And the wind blew cold : the story of an American POW in North Korea

Resource Information

The work And the wind blew cold : the story of an American POW in North Korea represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

And the wind blew cold : the story of an American POW in North Korea

Title remainder

the story of an American POW in North Korea

Statement of responsibility

by Richard M. Bassett, with Lewis H. Carlson

Creator

• Bassett, Richard M., 1928-

Contributor

• Carlson, Lewis H

Subject

• Amerikanischer Kriegsgefangener
• Bassett, Richard M, 1928-
• Bassett, Richard M, 1928-
• Erlebnisbericht
• HISTORY -- General
• HISTORY -- Military | Korean War
• Koreakrieg
• Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Prisoners and prisons, North Korean
• Nordkorea
• Prisoners of war
• Prisoners of war -- United States
• United States
• 1950-1953

Language

eng

Summary

When Richard Bassett returned from Korea on convalescent leave in 1953, he set down his experiences in training, combat, and captivity. Then he put the memoir away and tried to forget. More than twenty years later, hospitalized for acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he once again faced his personal demons. Expanding the memoir to include his postwar struggles with the U.S. government and his own wounded psyche, the resulting comprehensive account is published here for the first time. Bassett captures in plain language and vivid detail those days of his captivity. He describes the shock of capture and ensuing long march to Pyokdong, North Korea, Camp 5 on the Yellow River, where many prisoners died of untreated wounds, disease, hunger, paralyzing cold, and brutal mistreatment in the bitter winter of 1950-51. He recounts Chinese attempts to mentally break down prisoners in order to exploit them for propaganda. Bassett takes the reader through typical days in a prisoner?s life, discussing food, clothing, shelter, and work; the struggle against unremitting boredom; religious, social, and recreational diversions; and even those moments of terror when all seemed lost. Bassett?s story is important to general audiences and scholars alike because it has no counterpart in the literature of the Korean War. And the Wind Blew Cold refutes Cold War-era propaganda that often unfairly characterizes POWs as brainwashed victims or even traitors who lost the grit that Americans expected of their brave sons. Bassett concludes his memoir with a candid discussion of the war?s aftermath, his battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, harassment by a government eager to impugn the loyalty of repatriated POWs, and his long struggle with the Veterans Administration to receive compensation for enduring physical and mental scars. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the Korean War era, in captivity tales, and in the resilience of the human spirit

Action

digitized

Cataloging source

TEFOD

Dewey number

951.904/27

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps

Index

index present

Language note

English

LC call number

DS921

LC item number

.B27 2002eb

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

dictionaries