CODE OF CONDUCT

CODE OF CONDUCT BRIEF

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What is it?
The six Articles of the Code of Conduct address the situations that may be encountered by Marines and include the basic information required by prisoners of war.

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Background: After the end of the Korean War in 1953, China and North Korea exchanged prisoners with the U.N. America was horrified to learn that 22 Americans refused to come back to the United States and preferred to stay in Communist China. At the height of the cold war, the defections were a major blow to the USs PR effort against the Soviets. (Even though about 22,000 Chinese and North Koreans also refused to go back to their countries!)

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Response: Political fallout from the incident pressured the US Military to jointly develop a code of conduct to teach to all military members. The purpose of the code of conduct was to prevent a repeat of the North Korean Defection incident in the future.

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CODE I: I am an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

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CODE I (cont.): The code applies to all US Military members.

Can you honestly say you are prepared to give your life in defense of your country?

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CODE II: I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

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CODE II (cont.):

Surrender is only legal when:

1) The means to resist are exhausted 2) It is no longer possible to attempt escape to rejoin adjacent forces 3) Continued resistance would mean the certain death of all personnel without any meaningful loss of enemy forces

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CODE III: If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

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CODE III (cont.): It is the duty of all captured service members to:
1) Resist the efforts of your captors to get any value out of your capture 2) Have a plan to escape and assist others attempting to

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CODE III (cont.):
Never accept privileges or parole as a prisoner. Doing so does many things:
1) It will make your fellow prisoners think you are working with the enemy, no matter how hard you to try to justify it 2) Other prisoners will follow your example 3) After time, and in a painful and miserable environment, accepting privileges will eventually get to you; the best way to resist is to never accept them in the first place

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CODE IV: If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

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CODE IV (cont.): Your fellow prisoners are your family when in captivity Be careful what you say. Your captors are likely trained at interrogation and are clever; a bit of what you thought was meaningless information might be the key to making you or someone else crack

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CODE IV (cont.): The highest ranking person in captivity is in charge and MUST accept this responsibility (chaplains and medical offers are exempt) The chain of command still exists in captivity, and must be obeyed. When you escape or are rescued, you will be held accountable for your actions.

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CODE V: When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

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CODE V (cont.): You are required to give your name, rank, and SSN (for identification purposes in case a prisoner exchange is being arranged) Your captor will ask you many seemingly meaningless and innocent questions; none of the questions are meaningless or innocent Making disloyal statements to your country (orally, written, or on video) makes both you and your captor war criminals

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CODE VI: I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

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CODE VI (cont.): When under extreme duress, it is easy to forget who you are and where you came from; brainwashing can happen even to the strong-willed. You will eventually be held accountable for your conduct as a prisoner; conduct yourself with dignity and you will be rewarded. Conduct yourself with cowardice and you will be punished.

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17 of the 22 defectors eventually returned to the United States.

This (America) is the greatest country in the world, and maybe when I was 17 years old I didn't know it, but I do now. Aaron Wilson, Korean War Defector

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QUESTIONS?