

The story of the longest-held American POW - dctoedt
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2014/09/john_t_downey_cia_agent_captured_by_china_during_the_korean_war_the_story.single.html

======
cperciva
The title "... American POW" is inaccurate, since Downey was never a POW: He
was engaged in espionage, and spies have no right to POW status
([https://www.icrc.org/customary-
ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule107](https://www.icrc.org/customary-
ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule107)).

The wording in the title in the article, "... American _captive_ of war" is
better, and should be used instead.

~~~
dctoedt
> _The wording in the title in the article, "... American captive of war" is
> better, and should be used instead._

Poster here --- that's how I posted it, with the original wording.

~~~
cperciva
I guess a moderator missed the nuance and thought they were improving the
title. Hopefully another moderator can restore it now that I've pointed it
out...

------
junto
The CIA documentary, initially made exclusively for the agency, was eventually
released in 2011 through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the
Associated Press:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Mh7EiXRJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Mh7EiXRJI)

This paragraph at the end is particularly poignant (considering that Downey is
now a judge in the youth courts):

    
    
      In one instance, for example, Downey recalls watching a
      young girl, about 15 or 16 years old, passionately object to 
      her prison sentence. “She got up in court and gave an 
      eloquent speech as to why she should go home and not be in 
      prison. And then she said, ‘You don’t know what it’s like. 
      You can’t imagine.’ ” Downey, quietly resisting the 
      temptation to correct her, remembers sympathizing. “I do 
      feel I know the restrictions on a prisoner’s life,” Downey 
      says. “Prison is a lousy experience, whether you’re there 
      for a month or 20 years.”

------
brudgers
_Two long, bloody years would pass before the war ended_

The article shows how easily Americans slip into the mythology of the Korean
War. There's still an armed border at the 60th Parallel 60 years later, US
troops standing at the ready south if the DMZ with reserves in Okinawa and
logistics and strategic air support in Diego Garcia.

Korea has been in continuous civil conflict since the Japanese colonization in
the 19th century. Over the last 20 years. the standoff has escalated to
nuclear armed

 _The Korean War: a History_ by Max Cummings delves into the narrative America
has constructed for itself and how far it differs from a more circumspect
view.

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/081297896X/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/081297896X/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1412253141&sr=1-5&pi=SL75)

~~~
_sword
I visited the DMZ in the summer of 2013 and the militarization was
astonishing. Beyond the military checkpoints, soldiers everywhere, secret
tunnels dug from the north into the south, and relics of past failed
relationships such as a bullet riddled locomotive, the signs along every non-
paved spot of earth warning "DANGER MINES" and the overpasses rigged to
detonate and drop immense concrete blocks onto the roadways (to prevent
passage by invading tanks) really brought home the feeling that the two states
were still at war. Not to mention having to sign a hefty waiver to visit the
Joint Security Area for any injury or death that we could incur if North Korea
decided to attack us while on the tour. We also had a surprise at the Joint
Security Area when a tour of several dozen military officers on the north side
appeared and stared back at us while we took photos of them and a semi-hidden
photographer on the north took photos of all of us tourists to potentially use
as propaganda.

------
Yardlink
Ronald Pelton was an NSA spy who's been in prison longer for participating in
war. Except he's being held in the US and is still locked up today.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Pelton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Pelton)

~~~
dctoedt
The circumstances are a bit different: Mr. Pelton is indeed a former U.S. NSA
intelligence analyst, but he's in an _American_ prison for selling U.S.
military secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1980s during the Cold War. The
Wikipedia article says he'll be released in November 2015, which is surprising
inasmuch as he was given three concurrent life sentences.

------
TallGuyShort
>> The United States, the communists insisted, would have to admit to the
world that it had been lying about Downey all these years. For the time being,
however, the U.S. government was unwilling to lose face.

... and he remained in prison. That is disgusting.

