Re: Recollections of Camps, POWs and War

Date: May 24, 2004

"Gwangju: Korean War veterans recall working as guards at POW camp
About the only training the men received in dealing with the prisoners was on-the-job training. "I know we were told that we shouldn't abuse them," said Vince Abbate Sr., now of Vero Beach.

By Ed Bierschenk staff writer

VERO BEACH -- Vince Abbate Sr. and Gasper "Perry" Ferreri remember the prisoners of war they guarded crying in sorrow when the two men finished their tour of duty.

Abbate points to a photo showing him with his arm slung over the shoulders of one of the prisoners.

Advertisement Ferreri remembers the prisoners' meal consisting of food they were used to eating that had been obtained from the local villages.

"I think we treated them very well," said Abbate.

"I think they were treated too well," said Ferreri.

At a time when the treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war has come under fire, Abbate and Ferreri remember a far different atmosphere in 1952 at a prisoner-of-war camp in Gwangju, South Korea.

The two Korean War veterans have kept in touch over the years, even though Abbate now lives in Vero Beach and Ferreri near Atlantic City, N.J.

There were 24,000 prisoners at the camp they worked at in Korea with 500 prisoners in each compound, said Abbate.

The two U.S. Army privates were in their early 20s when assigned to the camp. Ranks were frozen for a time during that period, but Abbate said he was eventually promoted to private first class.

When they first went to Korea, the two men who had both shipped out of Fort Dix, N.J., performed guard duty but they didn't have any special training in dealing with prisoners before being sent to the prison camp.

It may have been that they simply had a need for some additional guards because of the constant rotation of personnel, said Abbate. About the only training the men received in dealing with the prisoners was on-the-job training, he said.

"I know we were told that we shouldn't abuse them," said Abbate.

For the most part, no one was hurt, according to Abbate.

In fact, Abbate said he remembers reprimanding a fellow soldier who hurt one of the young prisoners at the camp.

"I gave him hell, because I told him that he's no man hurting a kid like that," said Abbate.

"He really didn't hurt the kid that much, but I didn't like the idea of bullying somebody when it's unnecessary," said Abbate, who believes many of the North Korean soldiers were forced into combat.

Abbate, 74, and Ferreri, 73, both said the worst prisoners were kept at another prison, but they had to deal with some tense situations at their camp.

Abbate remembers when guards had to quell a riot without weapons to avoid the possibility of prisoners getting possession of a gun. Instead, they were given pick handles, but even then, Abbate said the situation was resolved before they entered the area. There were other times when they had to go in with weapons, but he said they were never used.

"I don't think anybody treats prisoners like the United States treats prisoners," said Ferreri.

At the same time, he said, he has heard of a lot of mistreatment, including executions, of U.S. soldiers captured during the war by other countries, such as Japan and North Korea.

Some of the other countries, said Ferreri, "treated prisoners like they were animals."

PHOTOS FROM IRAQ

Abbate said when he saw the photos from Iraq that have caused such a furor he "got a little angry because it gave us a bad name."

Abbate doesn't believe that such incidents are widespread and thinks the soldiers involved were given orders from somebody else.

"I was annoyed at the people that were involved in it, but I imagine some of them had orders to do what they were doing. They just didn't do it on their own," said Abbate.

He adds, however, that "after they got into the swing of it, it seems like they were enjoying it while they were doing it. That's the impression I got."

Overall, Ferreri is proud of the young people in the military and believes more than 99 percent join the service because they want to do something for their country.

"So we have a couple of screwballs that got carried away. I don't think it is right, but they beat them up and they didn't kill them. I think they should have been reprimanded, but not put on trial," Ferreri said of the accused U.S. soldiers.

Abbate said if the soldiers were given a direct order to treat the prisoners in the manner portrayed in the recent photos, it would be difficult for them to refuse because it could mean a court-martial.

"You would really have to be a special person to refuse if it's a direct order," said Abbate.

Abbate is unsure what he would have done if faced with such an order.

"It would have been very, very hard for me to go ahead with something like that. I might have resisted because that's the way I'm built, but I can't say for sure because thank God I was never tested like that."

- ed.bierschenk@scripps.com
© 2004 The E.W. Scripps Co."