REDS HOLDING A. F. PILOT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300170002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 2, 1998
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 27, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized -.Ap
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By RO3ERT S. ALLEN
and ?AUL SCOTT
Red China is holding a captur- The press advisers strongly',,.
ed U. S. pilot. counseled that the State :Depart-
He is Air Force Captain' Philip mcnt immediately publish the .
Smith, Victorville, Calif., who information that Smith was a'
was captured in September captive ' of Red China. They
1iiii. ? Although not definitely 'pointed out that the Red Cross
.known, it is believed his F-104 ?nhemoratxlunn was certain to
was shot down over the Gulf of leak to newsmen and the' de-
'Tonkin by a NIIG Piloted, by a partment should lose no 'further
CPYRGHll
While the State ' Department
ascertained about a year ago
that S.ntit]h was being held pris-.
oner in Poking, tight - lipped si-
lence was maintained until the
information leaked out through
a background memorandum that
the. American Red Cross Circu
Th s intra-office paper, deal- the department was lay-
case ,as follows: press word of Smith's capture.
. "Another _.point to keep in' Under ths forthright urging
mi iiii
nd,n answerng inquiries on Rusk directed that a. 'mnmum
.the subject. of Americans. held ';.amount" of infoinnationbe. re-;
Red ? Cross, we' continue to aid .? 'were ordered in doing so not to,,'
the five Americans :detained in :'reveal anything concerning how'
.China to whom the' American the U.S. learned of Smith's cap-'
'Red Cross and-or :their' families.'
amilies. ` tore, or that his wife is seeking.
month. ling.
"Anhong the five Is Air Force HANOI SRUT-OUT - While the
Captain Philip E: Smith,' who,. American Red Cross has beeW.
was shot down September 1963, able to establish a limited do-;
and captured by the Chinese. 'gree of contacts with U.S. pri-'
The other four are Bishop soners in Red China, neither it
James E. Walsh, Oumberland, nor ? the International Red Cross
.1fd.; John Dotvnev has gotten anywhere In trying.
aim, --COnn.: Richard ' Feetean_ to do the same with North Viet
~ot /ynil Iris.; and Hugh Red . ' Nam.
PtPtttdrRfi-"honkers, N.Y. (Downey Several private meetings in'
rand Fecteau are Army civilians Prague and Geneva with North
,captured during the Korean war; `'Viet 'Nanm and Viet Cong of-;
nand Bishop Walsh and Redmond. ?ficials. produced no results.
'were ' imprisoned while in Hanoi has flatly . refused to
China.) allow Red Cross authorities to,
"In addition to receiving' ?':either interview American pris-
packages every. month, these oners or inspect their camps. ;
detainees* also are pehrnitted to :. Repeated Red Cross, communi-11
letters with ,.their fan cations- sent through diplomatic
;dies." and private channels have gone.,
.
laird among its officials. that in view of the ? memoran
There is no explanation for the
. State Department's year-long
Snni7'n',s capture by t71o. _ Rcd
Chinese.
:14-IS 'family was informed, but
-nothing was disclosed publicly.
.'Recently, when an important
'State Department official learn-
ed about the Red Cross memo-
time . in making all 'the facts
known. '
One of these. press officials
reported that several newsmen
had told him "rumors are cir-.
culating among Red Cross' em-
ployes that a U.S. Pilot is in
Chinese hands." He related that
he had told them this was news
But he stressed on Rusk
to him
Discusing these Communist
;rebuffs, the Red Cross memo-
.
randum states as, follows:
"In spito of North Viet
Nm's position that the Geneva
XT
conventions do not apply to
American prisoners they - are
holding, the Red Cross is reg. '
ularly transmitting to Hanoi the
names of these men and mail'
from their ' next of kin. No: acknowledgment. of these con- i
municalions 'has been. received
.,. randunl, he immediately rushed
? a copy t (l, Secretary Rusk. ire
in turn su:mnoned top members
Sa
This was the first they had believed that some of the mail:
1 heard n'h ut Smith and his fate. Is being delivered to U.S. pris-'
Tile information had been Ice t oners. However we n6 ,
itized- 3App*ovecf'For.Relea lut v
C4 Rj RQ' b '1 RO
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