Data Sources - Air Force Manual No. 200-25A, Department of the Air Force, Washington, October 16, 1961  page 1. Sanitized copy. National Archives KOREAN Conflict Casualty File (KCCF) 1950-1954.

03/92 -- Korea, and the men yet to be accounted for -- the "official list" --  is a list of U.S. servicemen known to have been held as prisoners of war by the red Chinese and North Koreans from the Korean War but not released or accounted for by the communists, as released on May 27, 1957 at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Far East and Pacific by the Department of Defense.

The lists, the printed minutes of the May 27, 1957 hearing and the "sense of congress" resolution were subsequently buried in the archives. The original list had 450 names compiled from American POWS who were repatriated by the Reds, as well as from photographs released by the Reds, Chinese radio propaganda broadcasts, and letters written home by captured men. The "revised" list was narrowed down in august of 1961 to 389 men, and all were arbitrarily declared dead by the military services, the USG still lists them as "unaccounted for".

Names and ranks only were released at the time, and printed in "The Spotlight" on August 27, 1979, along with the above information and background. Further information has been compiled by the P.O.W. Network from the Hawaii POW/MIA Korean Memorial records, National Archives documentation, and public United States Air Force documentation, and changes made to the original published information. (FEBRUARY 1992)

Charles Rhinehart is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.

                                                    
____________________________________________________________________________
Full file avail  through the P.O.W. NETWORK      info@pownetwork.org

                    The Transfer of U.S. Korean War POWs
                            To the Soviet Union

                      Joint Commission Support Branch
                       Research and Analysis Division
                                    DPMO

                               26 August 1993

                               WORKING PAPER

                         This study was prepared by
         

                         Mr. Peter G. Tsouras, DAC
                    Major Werner Saemler Hindrichs, USAF
                     Master Sergeant Danz Blasser, USAF
         

                           with the assistance of
         

                  Second Lieutenant Timothy R. Lewis, USAF
                          Mr. Paul H. Vivian, DAC
                   Staff Sergeant Linda R. H. Pierce, USA
                       Sergeant Gregory N. Vukin, USA

This Study is for internal use only.  It contains subjective evaluations,
opinions, and recommendations concerning on-going analysis that may impact
future U.S. foreign policy decisions.  This document has not yet been
finalized for public release.

                               WORKING PAPER

                         This study was prepared by

                         Mr. Peter G. Tsouras, DAC
                    Major Werner Saemler Hindrichs, USAF
                     Master Sergeant Danz Blasser, USAF

                           with the assistance of

                  Second Lieutenant Timothy R. Lewis, USAF
                          Mr. Paul H. Vivian, DAC
                   Staff Sergeant Linda R. H. Pierce, USA
                       Sergeant Gregory N. Vukin, USA

                             Executive Summary
                    

                    
U.S. Korean War POWs were transferred to the Soviet Union and never
repatriated.
        

This transfer was a highly-secret MGB program approved by the inner circle
of the Stalinist dictatorship.
        

The rationale for taking selected prisoners to the USSR was:
        

o  To exploit and counter U.S. aircraft technologies;
        

o  to use them for general intelligence purposes;
        

o  It is possible that Stalin, given his positive experience with Axis POWs,
viewed U.S. POWs as potentially lucrative hostages.
        

The range of eyewitness testimony as to the presence of U.S. Korean War POWs
in the GULAG is so broad and convincing that we cannot dismiss it.
        

The Soviet 64th Fighter Aviation Corps which supported the North Korean and
Chinese forces in the Korean War had an important intelligence collection
mission that included the collection, selection, and interrogation of POWs.
        

A General Staff-based analytical group was assigned to the Far East Military
District and conducted extensive interrogations of U.S. and other U.N. POWs
in Khabarovsk.  This was confirmed by a distinguished retired Soviet
officer, Colonel Gavriil Rorotkov, who participated in this operation.  No
prisoners were repatriated who related such an experience.
        

o  Prisoners were moved by various modes of transportation. Large shipments
moved through Manchouli and Pos'yet.
        

o  Khabarovsk was the hub of a major interrogation operation directed
against U.N. POWs from Korea.  Khabarovsk was also a temporary holding and
transshipment point for U.S. POWs.  The MGB controlled these prisoners, but
the GRU was allowed to interrogate them.
        

o  Irkutsk and Novosirbirsk were transshipment points, but the Komi ASSR and
Perm Oblast were the final destinations of many POWs.  Other camps where
Americans were held were in the Bashkir ASSR, the Kemerovo and Archangelsk
Oblasts, and the Komi-Permyatskiy and Taymyskiy Natinal Okrugs.
        

POW transfers also included thousands of South Koreans, a fact confirmed by
the Soviet general officer, Kan San Kho, who served as the Deputy Chief of
the North Korean MVD.
        

The most highly-sought-after POWs for exploitation were F-86 pilots and
others knowledgeable of new technologies.
        

Living U.S. witnesses have testified that captured U.S. pilots were, upon
occasion, taken directly to Soviet-staffed interrogation centers.  A former
Chinese officer stated he turned U.S. pilot POWs directly over to the
Soviets as a matter of policy.
        

Missing F-86 pilots, whose captivity was never acknowledged by the
Communists in Korea, were identified in recent interviews with former Soviet
intelligence officers who served in Korea. Captured F-86 aircraft were taken
to at least three Moscow aircraft design bureaus for exploitaiton.  Pilots
accompanied the aircraft to enrich and accelerate the exploitation process.
        

The Transfer of U.S. Korean War POWs to the Soviet Union
          

Table of Contents
          

Introduction                                    1
        

        
Part I:  Technological Exploitation             3
        

The First Modern Air War  . . . .               3
The Technology Gap  . . . . . .                 3
The 64th Fighter Aviation Corps . . .           3
The Soviet Interrogation Effort . . .           4
The Soviet Hunt for F-86 Pilots . . .           5
The 15 F-86 Pilots That Came Home . . . .       8
A Chinese Link in the Chain of Evidence .       11
A Special Air Force Unit  . . . . . . .         11
Avraham Shifrin . . . . . . . . . . . .         12
The Soviet Hunt for the F-86 Sabre Jet          12
Sand in the Fuselage  . . . . . . . .           13
MGB and GRU:  Who Did What? . . . . .           15
Three Case Studies  . . . . . . . . .           19
The Case of Cpt Albert Tenney, USAF . . . .     19
The Case of lLt Roland Parks, USAF  . .         20
The Case of Cpl Nick A. Flores, USMC            22
Conclusions . . . . . . .                       24
        

Part II:  The Hostage Connection  . .           26
        

POW Exploitation  . . . . . . . . . .           26
The Stalin - Chou en-lai Meeting                26
Lieutenant General Kan San Kho  . . .           27
Colonel Gavril I. Korotkov  . . . . .           27
Lieutenant Colonel Philip J. Corso  . . . .     31
Lieutenant Colonel Delk Simpson . . . . . .     34
John Foster Dulles  . . .                       34
Captain Mel Gile  . . . .                       35
CCRAX                                           35
Zygmunt Nagorski  . . . .                       36
Turkish Traveler  . . . . .                     38
Conclusions . . . . . . .                       39
        

Part III      Evidence From Within the Soviet Union  . . . 40
        

Sightings in the Komi ASSR . .                              40
Sightings in Khabarovsk  . . .                              44
Sighting in Irkutsk  . . . . .                              45
Sighting in Taishet  . . . .                                46
Sighting in Mordova  . . . . .                              46
Sighting in Novosibirsk  . . . . .                          47
Sighting in the Bashkir ASSR . . .                          47
Sighting in Norilsk  . . . . . . .                          47
Sighting in Kemerovo . . . . . . .                          48
Sightings in the Kazakh SSR  . .                            49
Sighting in Archangelsk  . . . . . . .                      49
Patterns Among the Sightings . . . .                        50
Summary                                                     51
Postscript                                                  51
        

        
Appendices                                                  53
        

        
Appendix A:  How Many Men Are Truly Unaccounted For? . .    57
        

Appendix B:  31 Missing USAF F-86 Pilots Whose Loss
             Indicates Possible Capture                     68
        

Appendix C:  Korean War USAF F-86 Pilots Who Were           69
             Captured and Repatriated

        
Appendix D:  Outstanding Questions                          69
        

Appendix E:  Individual Sources of Information
             Cited in this Study                            74

        
Appendix F:  Soviet Officers Whose Names Appear On
             Interrogations of U.S. Korean War POWs         75
        

        
         Table 1.  USAF Korean War POWs On Whom the Russian
                   Archives Should Have Information . . . . . 7

         Table 2.  BNR Cases Where Death Was Witnessed by
                   Repatriates or Otherwise Documented  . . . 55
__________
                                 Appendix B
        

                   31 Missing USAF F-86 Pilots whose Loss
                         Indicates Possible Capture
        

          Name                                 Date of Casualty
        

          1. Cpt William D. Crone              18 Jun 51
          2. Cpt Robert H. Laier               19 Jun 51
          3. lLT Laurence C. Layton             2 Sep 51
          4. lLT Carl G. Barnett, Jr.          26 Sep 51
          5. Cpt Charles W. Pratt               8 Nov 51
          6. lLT Charles D. Hogue              13 Dec 51
          7. lLT Lester F. Page                 6 Jan 52
          8. lLT Thiel M. Reeves               11 Jan 52
          9. lLT Charles W. Rhinehart          29 Jan 52
         10. lLT Thomas C. Lafferty            31 Jan 52
         11. CPT Charles R. Spath               3 Feb 52
         12. CPT Jack C. Langston              10 Mar 52
         13. lLT James D. Carey                24 Mar 52
         14. Maj George V. Wendling            13 Apr 52
         15. CPT Albert G. Tenney               3 May 52
         16. CPT John F. Lane                  20 May 52
         17. Maj Felix Asla, Jr.                1 Aug 52
         18. Maj Deltis H. Fincher             22 Aug 52
         19. Cpt Troy G. Cope                  16 Sep 52
         20. 2LT Jack H. Turberville           18 Nov 52
         21. lLT Donald R. Reitsma             22 Dec 52
         22. 2LT Bill J. Stauffer              26 Jan 53
         23. lLT Paul J. Jacobson              12 Feb 53
         24. lLT Richard M. Cowden              9 Mar 53
         25. lLT Robert R. Neimann             12 Apr 53
         26. Cpt Frank E. Miller, Jr.          27 May 53
         27. lLT John E. Southerland            6 Jun 53
         28. lLT Allan K. Rudolph              19 Jun 53
         29. Cpt Charles E. Gunther            19 Jun 53
         30. lLT Jimmy L. Escale               19 Jun 53
         31. 2LT Gerald W. Knott               20 Jul 53
        

         Source: USAF Casualty Affairs

         9. Pilot:             1st Lieutenant Charles W. Rhinehart, USAFR
         Date of Casualty:     29 January 1952
         Status:               MIA
        

         During a combat mission over North Korea, Lieutenant
         Rhinehart's F-86 experienced a flameout and all attempts to
         restart were unsuccessful. At an altitude of 4,000 feet, he was
         seen to successfully parachute from the plane and to land in
         water off the mainland amid an area of numerous sand and
         mudflats, some 25 miles south of Chongju, North Korea. A
         subsequent aerial search of the area failed to locate any trace
         of Lt Rhinehart. Additional information: Lieutenant Rhinehart
         had studied aeronautical engineering at Iowa State College, had
         gone through USAF All-Weather Interceptor Aircrew Training, and
         had gone through conversion training on the F-86-4 fighter, the
         newest variant of the F-86 at that time...
        

03/13/2021