Korean War
This section includes the Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations and the summarizing report.
Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Commitee on Government Operations, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, 1st Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 40
The Hon. Charles E. Potter (chairman), the Senator from Michigan, presided over the subcommittee hearing, the purpose of which was to bring to "the attention of the world in general and to the American people in particular" the type of enemy the U.S. was fighting in Korea, "to expose their horrible acts committed against our troops, and to foster appropriate legislation." Of those who gave testimony at the hearing, 23 were American servicemen who were either survivors or eyewitnesses of the war crimes; the remaining six were former Army field commanders or officials of the War Crimes Division in Korea, including Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway (Chief of Staff, U.S. Army), former Commander of United Nations Forces in Korea. Although 26 photographs and other materials are introduced as exhibits in the hearing, only seven are actually included in the original printed documents and, therefore, have been included in the electronic versions linked below. A note in the original printed text states that the remaining exhibits, which are not included in the documents, "may be found in the files of the subcommittee." Each of the three parts of the hearing includes an extensive subject, name, and geographic place name index. The subcommittee report, S. Rep. No. 848, summarizes the evidence presented at the hearing and includes eleven appendixes, with eight photographs, the list of witnesses, and estimated numbers of victims in the death marches and prisoner of war camps. The report concludes that the Communist armies were guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against American personnel from 1950 to 1953.
Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities
includes:
- Part 1: December 2, 1953
- Part 2: December 3, 1953
- Part 3: December 4, 1953
Report (S. Rep. No. 848): January 11 (legislative day, January 7), 1954