Intelligence Information Report *
THISN INFORMATIONOT fiNAUY EVAIUA1EU
| ^TOlJNlllv Squill ViocTiSni UPORI
suijcci Prisoner of Wardish.
Used by MilitaryV .
Section, Frontuang Trl *:
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DATE Saigon) Htio MpqktJ.
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Summary: The standardized questionnaire used on American prisoners of warhich" Thorn believed the Central Offico for South Vietnam had prepared, was specifically aimed at collecting Information on military morale and motivations vhich would facilitate Viet Cong preparation of propaganda and exploitation of POW sympathies. End Summary.
1. The standardized American prisoner of warwas used for gathering information whichtho overall goals of the military proselytingpersuading American military personnel in. Government to sand thvin home; parsuadlnamilitary not'to fight the Viet Cong (VC) andlatter were fightingust cause; persuading thenot to support the Aray of the Republic ofnor to condone the killing of innocont civiliansareas. Thehich Thornthe Central Office for South Vietnam had writton, was
, .to all military proselyting units throughout
South Vietnam (SVN).
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To attain these goals, tho POW questionnaire wao specifically aimod at military morale, psychological motivations, attitudes on tho war in Vietnam, and information on conditions-in. This information was to bo used in gaining the support of the individual POW, his family and friends, and the American public. It was also used in preparing current tactical propaganda and in determining the sympathies of the POW's for exploitation and further interrogation.
The POW questionnaire asked for tho following:
a. Personal' ( * '
. '"
ate and place of birth
Occupation before entering the military
Civilian and military schools attended
anks and positions hold throughout -
f enlisted, whether draftee or voluntoor
f officer, whether sponsoredongressman or not. (field Connuont. This no doubt rofers to Congressional appointments to the Service
. " Academies.) If so, tho Congressman's the war and his address. If thoappeared suscoptible, he wouldand informod that one of tho had sponsored wasOW; from tho Con-
correspondence it was further to
be determined how ho could bo exploited, j
anguage capability, where ho studied the
language, and for what purpose. Thiswas used to determine if tfto POWver in intelligence and to point out other areas in which. Government might have planned to use him.
on-military areas of familiarityV ropair, photography, rocketry)
revious countries to which assigned
* .ito of arrival "in
to which assigned; its location, mission, and morale (including desertionubject's function in unit.
( 'atties fought
and political training received in
'partition for Vietnam
_
worn to Code of Conduct (sic)
) Political affiliations
etailed data on wife, children, parents, other
relatives, and friends Including names, addresses
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occupations, current activities,and socio-economic Particular emphasis was on tho details of this portion of
1 questionnaire.
motions of raother/wifo whon POW departed for Vietnam, (Did she cry?)
(b) Attitudes (both personal and that of fellow and commanding
Vietnam war, destruction and casualties wrought. bombing
Thleu/Ky government
Desertion
Participation in demonstrations (names of soldiers, dates of demonstrations, typos of demonstrationracial, anti-poverty,
Luther King's assassination. reaction)
Bortrand Russoll trial organized to oppose American participation in Vietnam and knowledge of Russell's trial speech (sic)
Criticism or punishment from superiors. on this attitude was to be used to incite the POW. against his superiors and to decrease his morale by showing him that he
.'- lost his statusree ond equal citizen
when he entered the military.
riots inttitude oftoward Negro soldiers
. ietnamese wives for American military
aborers in. toward thoir government .: '
.'General,and specific details regarding:
read VC propaganda leaflets and what types
/
Books read by officers and enlisted mon and roasons they liked these books
Conflicts. Army and the ARVN
Dissension betwoon officers and enlistod men
Deserters in tho unit: names, dates, locations,
ing tho military most when serving in remote areas of Vietnam
ames, ranks,.nnd homo states of American
soldiers who killed or rapod
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goods POW's intended to buy and brinjjto. with thom when thay woro In this way, the VC could
determinenit was pulling outlevel tho appropriate propagandaunit in the hopes that some of itback to the friends and families of >
and dates of people whofor anti-war purposes
General sentiment/attitudes which the POW's felt were peculiar to the VC.
Promises made. Government to the
prior to sending them to Vietnam. ' ;
. Number of members of the POW's unit belonging
to the labor class. The Military Proselyting Section explained to the Americans thoof goingoreign country to
when there wexe so many things, such as
unemployment, in their own country which needed to be taken care.of. In addition, tho desired statistics and other information on conditions in. wore sought.
of unemployment and miseryAmericans in.
of POW's to write letters'toin. The VC/NVA wouldtho friends and families of thethese letters in the hopes thatwill cause them to agitate forthe resultant return of their loved ones.
and morale of.
tho interrogation, the following questionswere posed to determine the sophistication.of
Why did. fail at tho Bay of Pigs?
b.' Why was President Kennedy assassinated?
o. Why was Martin Luther King assassinated?
d. Why was Cuba allowed toommunist country? Cuba iomall country with little population located near the mighty. Vietnam i* a small country with few people, so why should. bother with Vietnam?
o. Why did the Americans fight the British in the American Revolution? Is not the Vietnamese war analogous to 'the American Revolution?
the end of the interrogation each POW washe had any questions or needed anything. The POWexpress his personal feelings. The effect of the -would thus be indicated, and the way tho POWon route from capture could be
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ldLDJssem: State, USXiACV, USAID,th Air Force,th MI GP,.SAG, OSI, CIKCPAC, PACFLT, PACAJT,
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Original document.
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