Presidential Papers, Doc#45 To Charles Erwin Wilson, 19 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #45; February 19, 1953
To Charles Erwin Wilson
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953
Chapter 1: Developing a spirit of teamwork

 

Dear Charlie: Attached is an article which may or may not be based upon factual conditions.1

During World War II I had, as a commander in the field, difficulty with this question of feeding prisoners.2 The United States, of course, in its conduct of war, insists upon following the procedures established by international conventions.3 As I recall the provisions of these conventions as they apply to the feeding of prisoners, there is a phrase specifying that prisoners will be fed a ration equivalent to that fed in the base camps of the capturing power.

Our own forces were fed a very heavy ration--probably the highest in caloric value of any in the world. As our numbers of prisoners increased in the African theatre, we had the same embarrassing situation as is now reported in the attached clipping. Our French allies were underfed and even the British ration was not so high in caloric value as we were feeding German and Italian prisoners.

In this situation I directed the use of a ration that was both on a reduced basis and was made up of items that were not popular with the American soldiers. We fed to the prisoners lots of desiccated cabbage and other similar items. Of course I always allowed the International Red Cross officials to inspect the conditions of the camps since international agreement provided for this kind of inspection. These officials reported themselves as completely satisfied that the arrangements we made met the spirit and intent of the international conventions.

In the current situation it is the United Nations rather than the United States that should be responsible for carrying out the provisions of international agreement.4 The Republic of Korea has more troops in action than any other nation. It would appear to be a ridiculous situation if we actually fed prisoners a bigger ration than the South Koreans are getting.

Another point to be explored is whether there might be some way in which some of our agricultural surpluses could be used to remedy this situation.

At your convenience I would like a report as to what has, or can, be done in this matter.5 Sincerely

1 Eisenhower sent his Secretary of Defense a copy of a recent Washington Post piece entitled "Low-Diet, Disease Hospitalize 7000 ROK Soldiers a Month." The article charged that Communist prisoners enjoyed better rations than their South Korean guards, who seldom ate fresh foods (Washington Post, Feb. 15, 1953).

2 During World War II battles for Tunisia and the Ruhr Valley, Eisenhower's forces had taken two of the three largest groups of Axis prisoners captured (Chandler, War Years, no. 2397. On U.S. treatment of POWs see also Galambos, Columbia University, no. 377).

3 The Geneva Prisoners of War Convention of 1929 required capturing forces to provide POWs the same rations they supplied troops in base camps (Arthur C. Banks, "International Law Governing Prisoners of War during the Second World War" [Ph.D. diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1955], pp. 98-110).

4 Acting under U.N. mandate as the Unified Command in Korea, the U.S. supervised the handling of prisoners according to the revised Geneva Convention of 1949, which compelled capturing forces to supply prisoners food sufficient in quantity and quality to keep them in good health and properly nourished (Wilson to Eisenhower, Apr. 16, 1953, AWF/A).

5 On February 25 Wilson replied (AWF/A) that the State and Agriculture departments would determine whether U.S. farm surpluses might allay South Korean military food shortages. Wilson summarized messages from U.N. Commander Mark W. Clark (see no. 7). Clark wrote that in mid-January, learning of the disparity between ROK rations and U.S.-supplied prisoner rations, he had taken immediate action "to insure that sufficient supplemental ration components be issued to all ROKA units on POW security missions, so that the total amount available to them would be at least equal in quality and quantity to that which we were providing for prisoners of war" (Clark to Collins, Feb. 15, 1953, CX 61237, and Clark to Department of the Army, Feb. 17, CX 61259, both ibid.).

In a memorandum of mid-April Wilson would assure the President that South Korean soldiers received "a bigger ration than prisoners of war" (Wilson to Eisenhower, Apr. 16, 1953, AWF/A).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Charles Erwin Wilson, 19 February 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 45. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/45.cfm

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