Talk:List of American and British defectors in the Korean War

Crossing the Line
Regarding the reference to the movie "Crossing the Line" that was inserted by another user: that movie, which I haven't seen, is about a man named James Dresnok who walked across the DMZ and defected in 1962, and thus shouldn't be in this article, unless the film also contains material on the 22 war veterans who defected. Maybe the user who added the reference can clarify whether the movie has any material on the 1954 defectors? Vidor 04:11, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

American?
Since this is a list of UN defectors, not all of whom were American, should it not be given a different title?217.42.13.36 (talk) 12:29, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

mathematical impossibility
I took out this line "most of whom had fought for Chiang Kai-shek against the Communists in the Chinese Civil War" because it is patently impossible. of the 70 000 communist POWs, only around 5000 were chinese and there are 20 000 defectors. even if all the chinese defected it would not consistent a majority. I can't believe no one seen this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.231.243.94 (talk) 05:08, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Clarence Adams
The piece states, “During the Vietnam War, Adams did propaganda broadcasts for Radio Hanoi from their Chinese office, telling American soldiers not to fight.” Isn’t there a more articulate way of communicating this information than the verb “did”? Adams “did” broadcasts? He recorded, he conducted, he submitted to, he orchestrated…. He “did”? Additionally, in the biography “An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China” (ISBN-10: 1558495959) It is claimed that Adams recorded broadcasts directed only at African American soldiers fighting in Vietnam – not at American soldiers in general. This point was used in his defense on return to the United States in 1966. Therefore, stating that he “did” broadcasts telling American soldiers not to fight is incorrect. He recorded broadcasts designed to be played for African American soldiers telling them they were being exploited. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.220.193.142 (talk) 20:39, 1 June 2009 (UTC)


 * He didn't record if they were live. He didn't conduct or orchestrate if he wasn't in charge.  He didn't submit if he was doing it voluntarily.  The only adequate alternative I can think of is "perform", unless we find out more information.  Also, anybody who reads a book about someone on this list is free to change the article as appropriate rather than post notes about how the article is wrong. Vidor (talk) 21:58, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Harold Webb and Youth Defense League "Turncoat"
The song Turncoat was introduced in 1986 and neatly fits the mathematics ("when you decided to stay there for thirty three whole years") (1986-33 = 1953, year of the armistice). The written lyrics show an underline instead of Webb, but the song lyrics sound like Webb, and no other name on the list starts with Harold or Harry. I am happy to resolve that true story with a little detective work.Chris-marsh-usa (talk) 04:27, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

"came home"
Is this really an appropriate term? It gives impression that they came back to where they belong, like they had no home where they were. However true it is (i don't know), it seems like a slight bias. I think a better alternative would be along the lines of "came back to the united states"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lerikson (talk • contribs) 00:03, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Were they North Korean or Chinese communist defectors?
This article states that the majority of the 22,000+ communist soldiers who refused repatriation were North Korean. However, the article on Operation Big Switch states that they were majority Chinese who initially fought against the communists in the Chinese Civil War (which gives the reader the obvious impression that they felt no true loyalty to communist China in the first place, but I digress). So what was the actual makeup of the 22,000+ communist defectors? And while no one could possibly track down what happened to all of them, does anyone know what the makeup of the decisions of those defectors was? As in: How many went to South Korea, or U.S.A, or returned to N. Korea or China, or went elsewhere? StrangeApparition2011 (talk) 21:18, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Is it illegal to stay in an other country after the end of hostilities
I'm just wondering if anyone knows any documents that prove (link is broken) that the two americans who changed their minds at the last minute were court martialed (despite actually changing their minds and going back to the US). I thought everyone agreed that people could choose if they wanted to stay or go?37.123.149.65 (talk) 23:27, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

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