In all of American military history, during times of war, it’s a given that multitudes of military personnel are killed in action (KIA), are captured in action (CIA) and go missing in action (MIA). But it is extremely rare to have a Major General (01 star General) evade for his life and become Prisoner Of War (POW).
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One brave soldier I want to introduce you to is Major General William F. Dean. Born in 1899 in Carlyle, Illinois, Dean’s military career began at the Army Training Corps at the University of California near San Francisco. On 18 October 1923, Dean was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army and assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment located at Fort Douglas, Utah. Attending schools and leading soldiers, in 1936 Dean made Captain followed by Major in 1940.
Major Dean was assigned to Washington. In 1941 he achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel followed by Colonel in 1942. Wanting war experience, in 1943, Colonel Dean became assistant commander of the 44th Infantry Division which was preparing for deployment to Europe late 1943. In December 1944, Colonel Dean became the commander of the 44th Infantry Division. The 44th Infantry Division proudly served with honor during WWII and returned to Japan as part of an occupation force after V-E Day.
In October 1947, Colonel Dean was ordered to South Korea as a military governor and deputy to Lt. General John R. Hodge who was at that time commander of all American occupied forces. On 15 August 1948, Colonel Dean became commander of the 7th Infantry Division headquartered in Seoul, Korea.
Note: At this time, I believe Colonel Dean was promoted to Major General (01 star). As far as I know, all Division Commanders are Generals.
At this time the 7th Infantry Division was relocating to northern Japan. In May 1949, General Dean became Chief of Staff for the 8th Army under commander General Walton Walker. In October 1949, General Dean became commander of the 24th Infantry Division. On 25 June 1950 the North Korean Army, crossed the 38th parallel invading South Korea and the Korean War began.
General Dean and his unit were scattered and eventually overrun by advancing North Koreans. The fighting got so bad, brave American soldiers who worked in the mess hall, clerks, messengers,… put down their work tools and picked-up weapons. Now they were fighting as infantrymen!
General Dean along with other soldiers evaded as best they could with enemy all around them. With multiple breaks-in-contacts, General Dean became a lone evader and was eventually captured. In all of American history, it’s very rare to have an American General to be put in POW status. Here are General Dean’s survival tricks as an evader and as a POW (Prisoner Of War).
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Breathing Rice: General Dean had been evading for approximately 30-days. For food, he grabbed rice from rice paddies. Coming across a farmer, he showed the farmer the rice he saved; the farmer threw it away. It turns out rice should never be stored in a plastic bag but in a cloth so it could breathe. Rice that can’t breathe, sours real fast – within hours and can sicken the survivor.
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Lost POW: Wanting to head to the UN lines, General Dean found himself lost especially at night. With no compass, no means of star navigation due to the cloud cover, General Dean found himself walking in circles or seriously off azimuth. This no doubt led to his capture.
I’m an advocate of going static (make camp) 02-hours before sundown for hunters, campers, hikers, fishermen,… cause night navigation could lead to problems. However, the BEST cure for night navigation is a good map recon with a reliable lead compass man with a back-up compass man along with 02 personnel working pace count. Today, as far as I know, all combat ground troops are issued a military lensatic compass.
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Fire Fuel: General Dean came across peasants gathering brush and weeds. Peasants couldn’t afford wood for fire so parties of peasants gathered brush and weeds for cooking fires, warming fires, and smudge fires to combat the swarms of mosquitoes.
1st Note: Bunches of grass or other dry materials that are twisted together burn much longer and retain heat longer than if burned separately.
2nd Note: General Dean came across several peasants while searching for food and while hiding. This contact eventually led to his capture.
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Invisible Dean: Approximately 15 August 1950, coming to a river, Dean watched women wash clothes. That evening the women took their clothes headed on paths back to their village except one. One woman took a different path and passed within 04-feet of hiding General Dean. Showing no surprise, no emotion, she looked straight into Dean’s eyes and kept going.
Minutes later General Dean heard shots, yelling and he was being enveloped. Heading to thick vegetation, exhausted General Dean fell asleep. Waking up fighting his fatigue he fell asleep again as the enemy advanced and enveloped him. As they advanced, the enemy yelled out their position so they wouldn’t be shot by their own.
This alerted Dean to where each soldier was located and he smartly maneuvered between them and holding in-place for his next position. Between falling asleep and holding in-place, General Dean did not attract the searching eyes of his enemy and evaded out of the encirclement. Remember, movement always attracts the eyes!
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Begging For Food: On 20 August 1950, General Dean was so weak, he turned to peasants for food. A family shared their dismal supply of food. Initially they gave him rice and pork fat which he couldn’t keep down. Hours later he was given kimchee (fermented cabbage) and rice. Again, he couldn’t keep it down. Later that day, General Dean noticed chickens. Pointing to the chickens, he wanted some eggs to eat. The family misunderstood him and killed the chicken.
General Dean was fed some delicious chicken soup which he kept down. It also had some potatoes and lots of chicken fat. The next day he had 03 meals of rice, roasted corn, and potatoes. General Dean stayed for 02 days. With a small supply of food, General Dean left on the orders of one of the family members (brother) who pointed the road and direction to go. Evading he grabbed small “inedible” peaches laying on the ground.
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General Dean – Captured!
On 25 August 1950, General Dean was captured while seeking aid from a peasant named Han. General Dean was fed and eventually guided by Han into the hands of at least 15 enemy at Sangjonmyon where he was captured. Han and another man named Choi each received $5 reward for General Dean’s capture. When captured, weakly General Dean weighed approximately 110-pounds versus his pre-war weight of 210-pounds. General was escorted to Chinan then to Chonju where General Dean was interrogated. General Dean’s interrogators insisted he talk on the radio, sign papers,… but he refused.
General Dean was transported to Seoul where he was fed and asked blaming questions by the news media. General Dean defended his actions leading up to his POW status and was cut-off when revealing the brutal treatment towards other POWs. General Dean was repeatedly interrogated but he offered no information.
On 14 September 1950, General Dean was being transported to a POW camp (security headquarters) located at Pyongyang and again he was repeatedly interrogated while being called a war criminal. At one time General Dean was kept awake for 68-hours straight. If he dozed off the guard would yell and kick him. General Dean was threatened with torture like forced water being pumped into his mouth or rectum, bamboo shoved under his fingernails and set on fire, electrical shock treatments,…
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General Dean’s Escape: Members of the US military have an obligation to resist interrogation and escape when possible. General Dean saw an opportunity when a guard fell asleep. Securing the guard’s weapon, he made too much noise attempting to cock the weapon. He was rushed by Colonel Hong and a few others. General Dean was out to kill his interrogator Colonel Kim and then turn the gun on himself. Major Hong told General Dean that he wasn’t going to be tortured or killed, his interrogators were bluffing. Departing for a 10-day stay at Huichon, 100-miles to the north(?).
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North Korean House: On another transfer to Huichon, General Dean noted the construction of a typical North Korean house. I believe this is worthy of your attention because of the easy and super cheap construction of the typical North Korean house.
a) Floor Plan: 02 rooms with a kitchen. Rooms are approximately 04-feet by 08-feet.
b) Below Ground: 01 room is below ground level (temperature control). One wall is made-up of a fireplace wall. Flues from fireplace lead under the other 02 rooms (heating) before escaping out of a chimney.
c) Wall Construction: Walls are made of mud and reinforced with cornstalks.
d) Roof Construction: Roofs are thatched. Inside of house, ceiling may be lined with paper.
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Socks & Footgear: No such things as new socks. General Dean witnessed North Korean soldiers sewing patches to their old socks. They sewed patches on top of patches. They even sewed patches on the socks still being worn by their comrade. The soles of their shoes were re-soled using sections of tires. Even Genera Dean wore a pair of re-treads!
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Mental Games: On 06 March 1951, General Dean became even sicker and weaker. His captors allowed him to lay down all day long. General Deans morale was at an all time low. So he tried to boost his well-being by doing simple math problems mentally. Then anagrams (reform a word to make another word – tool = loot), then squares and square roots. Then he memorized the squares of numbers from 01 to 100. Then he tried to find better systems to find the squares of numbers. General Dean worked up to doing squaring 500 numbers a day (square of 40 = 1600)!
1st Note: Here are a couple examples of squares and square roots.
a) Square Roots: The square root of 16 is 04. Why? Cause 04 X 04 = 16.
b) Squares: The square of 04 is 16. Why? 04 X 04 =16.
2nd Note: General Dean noted that mathematical games that were too difficult may have the POW banging his head against the wall. So ease up!
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Beriberi Remedy: General Dean was suffering from beriberi (swelling). Both hands and feet were swollen. To help remedy his swollen hands, he discreetly did exercises using thumb and fingers. See Item 207) Beriberi Cure.
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Fly Baseball: POWs talked about the number of flies that swarmed them. And flies even bothered 1-star Generals. General Dean had a game swatting flies with the palm of his hand. It was May 1951 and his batting average was just over .300. A guard gave him a home-made fly swatter made from a willow branch. His batting average jumped to .760.
General Dean then started to study flies and a better way to hit some more. His batting average improved to .850. General Dean studied flies and found that you shouldn’t swat the fly while its standing still. The fly should be swatted when it starts walking or lifts its front feet to wash. “Then you bust him, because he can’t take off without shifting position first.”
Fly baseball obviously helped General Dean fight off DESPAIR and boosted his morale. Here are his fly baseball results. He challenges anyone to beat his record.
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Fly Baseball Statistics!
Year Flies Killed
1951——————————————–492 in 01 day
1953——————————————–522 in 01 day
1951——————————————–11,016 total
1952——————————————–25,475 total
1953——————————————–4,180 total
TOTAL——————————————-40,671 flies
1st Note: Lost interest in 1953 but still killed 4,180 flies.
2nd Note: Chinese soldiers were into killing flies and even promoted POWs to kill flies. Why? They wanted their country to be the 1st free of flies!
3rd Note: General Dean also swatted mosquitoes. He felt that swatting the mosquitoes was better than smoking them.
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Rank Has Its Privileges: General Dean was treated better than enlisted POWs. The North Koreans protected General Dean’s identity and rank from their Chinese counterparts fearing the Chinese would take away such a valuable POW. Sickly Dean scratched out a note for his guard, it read “Quinine or atabrine.” General Dean was suffering from malaria and dysentery. Just a few hours later, a guard arrived with atabrine which probably saved his life. If an enlisted would have written out the same note, no doubt he would have gotten a good whoopin’!
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Healing Sunbath: On 29 October 1951, General Dean was moved again. At his new location he was allowed to take a 45-minute sunbath. Sunning is great as long as you don’t overdo it. The sun gives the body Vitamin D. **Here’s a quote from the Gettysburg Program: Vitamin D is needed for calcium and phosphorous absorption and utilization.
Necessary for growth, Vitamin D is especially important for normal growth and development of bones and teeth in children. Vitamin D is important in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, rickets, hypocalcemia as well as enhancing immunity! The sun’s ultraviolet rays can be converted to Vitamin D by exposing the face and arms to the sun three times a week. Don’t overdo exposure to the sun.
My research also indicates that obtaining Vitamin D from exposure to the sun helps with problems of depression. Sources of Vitamin D are alfalfa, butter, cod liver oil, dairy products fortified with Vitamin D, eggs, fish liver oils, fatty salt-water fish, halibut, liver, milk, oatmeal, salmon, sardines, sweet potatoes, tuna and vegetable oils. The sun also helps kill bacteria on the skin’s surface. Bacteria that may cause disease.
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Forecasting Winter: General Dean is an extremely intelligent and observant. In his new quarters he observed that the rats were nested inside the thatched roof. They also excavated a network of tunnels so dense it made the hut unstable. The infestation of rats indicated that a harsher than normal winter is on the way.
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Advertising POW Status: General Dean was interviewed by two different journalists on 21 December 1951 and 23 December 1951. When POW status is authenticated – advertised to the world, the captors are “obligated” to account for the POW. Whether the POW survives or not, his captors have to account for him and it would look bad in the eyes of the world if the POW dies while under the captor’s control. POWs not returned or unaccounted for during the war are MIAs (missing in action) and the enemy is not “obligated” to account for MIAs. Even if General Dean was not interviewed, the North Koreans would not dare execute the General as they did enlisted and lower ranking officers.
1st Note: Vietnam and Gulf War POWs smartly had film and pictures taken of them so the enemy was “obligated” to account for them.
After being interviewed and as 1953 came closer, General Dean’s treatment was improved versus his early days as a POW. On 27 July 1953 a Cease Fire was ordered on both sides. On 04 September 1953, repatriation of POWs was started and General Dean was returned to the safety of American forces.
2nd Note: In his book General Dean’s Story, General Dean demonstrated a far superior memory and ability to recall in great detail every aspect of his experiences before, during, and after his status as a POW.
Approximately 7,140 Americans were taken prisoner. Due to the lack of adequate water, food, medical attention, and executions, more than 40% (2,865+) died under the control of the North Koreans. Americans under Chinese control were treated better than their abused comrades under North Korean control.