Francis Dodd (general)
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- For the English landscape painter, see Francis Dodd
| Francis T. Dodd
United States Army |
|
|---|---|
| 1899 - ???? | |
 |
|
| Place of birth | Indiana |
| Allegiance | United States Army |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | World War II Korean War |
Francis T. Dodd was an American general put in charge of the United Nations-administered prisoner of war camps on Koje Island during the Korean War. He became infamous when North Korean captives managed to seize and hold him hostage, suscessfully extracting embarrassing admissions from the American military and scoring a propaganda victory.
Dodd was born in Indiana in the year 1900 (or 1899) and graduated from West Point. Before being named commander of the POW camps in the spring of 1952, he was deputy chief of staff for General James Van Fleet's Eighth Army, having risen in rank to Brigadier General.
On May 7, 1952 General Dodd visited Compound 76, one on many prison compounds under his command, to listen to complaints aired by the Communist leaders of the camp. While standing at the gate of the compound, he and one of his subordinates were forcibly seized as gate opened to allow a work detail to pass through. The subordinate grabbed hold of a gatepost long enough for the American guards to rescue him, but General Dodd was whisked into the center of the camp and held hostage.
For the next 78 hours, General Dodd was in captivity. By his own admission he was treated well as hurried negotiations went on for his release. General Charles F. Colson was rushed to the island to take command, and he ordered a telephone rigged up to allow communication with General Dodd. The chief Communist demand was essentially an admission that UN forces had been resonsible for bloodshed in the camps. This demand was granted by General Colson, and General Dodd was eventually freed.
Both generals were critised for handing a propaganda victory to the Communist side rather than risk a forcible rescue of Dodd. Dodd was relieved of command and reduced in rank to Colonel, his career effectively over.
