五千年(敝帚自珍)

主题:【文摘】Life杂志里的朝鲜战争(1)敌人的面孔 -- pxpxpx

共:💬689 🌺3480 🌵58
全看分页树展 · 主题 跟帖
家园 【原创】Life杂志里的朝鲜战争(2)一个叫迪安的战俘

William F Dean (迪安),也叫Bill Dean,美24师少将师长,是朝鲜战争中美军被俘人员里军衔最高的一位。

做为美国陆军的先头部队,他的24师于1950年7月5日起开始阻滞北朝鲜军队向南推进,并与之进行了一系列的战斗,到7月20日大田陷落的时候,他的部队损失了一多半的人员和大部分的装备。

在所有我见过的英文资料里,对当时美24师的表现之低劣都没有异议,很多资料的描写还极其详细。尤其是其34团,竟然在一个星期里被打得换了3任团长。

当时美军陆军的总人数低到了不可思议的66万,在本土战备水平勉强可以,理论上还可以调动的部队一共只有两个师:美2师和美空降82师。而82师又是用于欧洲的战略预备队,装备和训练都不适合在朝鲜作战。

当时,前线吃紧的麦老帅和总部要部队的时候,都是成军成师的要,而当时的"管家"李奇微则只能给他一个美2师,其他的就只能各处一个团,几个营的挤牙膏了。

所以作为先锋的迪安可以说是千钧重担在身。身后就是釜山,再后面就是大海了。

而偏偏他的24师在日本极度缺乏训练,各团相距百里,从来就没有合练过,新兵又很多,当时从日本到朝鲜的海空运力又极度缺乏,迪安本人十万火急的要到朝鲜前线,竟然由于各种原因飞了两,三次才最终成行。他的部队就更差了,只能分批到达朝鲜战场,所以他手里一度只有两个团,还不满员。

一路退到了大田,部队经几次溃败已经没什么战斗力可言了,而这时迪安的老板沃克到了前线,要求他再守大田两天,迪安倒是坚决执行了命令,只是当时可以打掉T34的武器都很稀少,各部又通讯中断,守城很快就变成了巷战。

迪安本人在最后一天扔下部队,和反坦克小组一起去打坦克去了,与其说是勇敢,不如说是绝望。

在最后撤退的时候,迪安没有坐先前赶来支援的坦克,而是自己和随员坐着吉普突围,结果走错了路,最后与众人走散,在朝鲜南部山区里挣扎了5个星期之后,被当地农民交给了北朝鲜的军队。

当时身高6英尺的他仅剩下130磅,掉了整整60磅的肉,用他的话讲瘦的象甘地一样。

之后,他被关押了三年多,最终在53年9月被释放。

回国后,他当了一段第六集团军副军长,之后于55年退出现役。

在他被俘后,美国政府因为其英勇的表现(如He personally and alone attacked an enemy tank while armed only with a hand grenade;He also directed the fire of his tanks from an exposed position with neither cover nor concealment while under observed artillery and small-arms fire等),授予其国会荣誉勋章MOH,并一度以为他已经阵亡,直到1951年末,中朝公布了美军战俘名单,他的家人才知道他竟然还活着。

在他失踪的第一时间,LIFE就专门发了一个专题:The story of a soldier,并配有一些他的照片,这些照片目前还没有上网。在他被释放之后,LIFE又对他进行了报道,目前相关的照片已经在网上了。

下面就是LIFE1953年刊出的一些照片:

点看全图

外链图片需谨慎,可能会被源头改

Major General William F. Dean (CR) talking to people after his release from a Korean POW camp.

Location: US

Date taken: September 1953

Photographer: Joseph Scherschel

点看全图

外链图片需谨慎,可能会被源头改

Major General William F. Dean speaking during a press conference after his release from a Korean POW camp.

Location: US

Date taken: September 1953

Photographer: Joseph Scherschel

下面是其他一些网站上的照片:

点看全图

外链图片需谨慎,可能会被源头改

General William F. Dean Wearing Civilian Suit and Hat

Original caption: Major General William F. Dean, the Commanding General of the U.S. 24th Division, is shown here after his release from a communist prison camp.

上图里的衣服应该就是他在之后记者招待会上穿的衣服,明显是中/朝方给做的。

点看全图

外链图片需谨慎,可能会被源头改

Party at Bob Hope's Home

Original caption: Photo shows, right to left: Joe DiMaggio; Marilyn Monroe; General William Dean, and Bob Hope at Hope's home where Bob and Mrs. Hope gave a party for General Dean before his departure for his home in San Francisco. General Dean appeared on Hope's TV show last night and Broadcast a Christmas message to the GIs in Korea.

没想到呀没想到...

上文提到的TV Show,参加的嘉宾还有当时是议员的肯尼迪及他的夫人。

根据迪安的口述整理,1954年,他出了一本书,专门就讲自己在朝鲜的战俘生活,书名叫 General Dean's Story.

在书的开始部分,他写下了这样一段话,读来颇为令人动容:

If the story of my Korean experiences is worth telling, the value lies in its oddity, not in anything brilliant or heroic.

There were heroes in Korea, but I was not one of them. There were brilliant commanders, but I was a general captured because he took a wrong road. I am an infantry officer and presumably was fitted for my fighting job. I don't want to alibi that job, but a couple of things about it should be made clear. In the fighting I made some mistakes and I've kicked myself a thousand times for them. I lost ground I should not have lost. I lost trained officers and fine men. I'm not proud of that record, and Pm under no delusions that my weeks of command constituted any masterly campaign.

No man honestly can be ashamed of the Congressional Medal of Honor. For it and for the welcome given to me here at home in 1953, I'm humbly grateful. But I come close to shame when I think about the men who did better jobs some who died doing them and did not get recognition. I wouldn't have awarded myself a wooden star for what I did as a commander. Later, as fugitive and prisoner, I did things mildly out of the ordinary only at those times when I was excited and not thinking entirely straight; and the only thing I did which matteredto my family and perhaps a few others was to stay alive.

Other prisoners resisted torture, but I wasn't tortured;

Others hid In the hills and finally escaped, but I failed in my escape attempts;

Others bluffed the Communists steadily, whereas I was lucky enough to do it only once in a while;

Others starved, but I was fed and even learned to like kinchee;

Others died for a principle, but I failed in a suicide attempt;

I can justify writing this book only because mine -was an adventure without a heroand because I did see the face of the enemy close up, did have time to study his weaknesses and his remarkable strengths, not on the battlefield but far behind his lines. I saw communism working with men and women of high education or none, great intelligence or little and it was a frightening thing.

我不愿拿迪安和志愿军的180师去比,太复杂,也不可比。

只是希望不久的将来,国内也可以看到这么实在的军史回忆。

迪安被捕时知道仁川登陆的全部计划,但是没有对任何人交代...

迪安1981年去世,终年82岁...

关键词(Tags): #朝鲜战争#被俘人员
全看分页树展 · 主题 跟帖


有趣有益,互惠互利;开阔视野,博采众长。
虚拟的网络,真实的人。天南地北客,相逢皆朋友

Copyright © cchere 西西河