Frank Schwable

Frank Hawse Schwable
Schwable as colonel, USMC
Born	(1908-07-18)July 18, 1908
Died	October 28, 1988(1988-10-28) (aged 80)
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1929–1959
Rank	Brigadier general
Service number	0-4429
Commands	VMF(N)-531
Battles / wars	World War II Korean War MiG Alley
Awards	Legion of Merit (3) Distinguished Flying Cross (4) Air Medal (3)

Brigadier General Frank Hawse Schwable (July 18, 1908 – October 28, 1988) was a decorated U.S. Marine pilot whose prosecution for collaborating with his Korean captors while a prisoner of war was dismissed in 1954.

Biography

Early years

Schwable, the son of a Marine colonel who served thirty years, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1929.^[1]

Marine Corps Career

Commissioning and early years of service

He was awarded the Cross of Valor by the Nicaraguan government in 1932.^[2] In September 1933, he was among 19 aviators representing the Marine Corps at the International Air Races in Chicago.^[3]

World War II & post war activities

Just prior to the United States' entry into World War II, a number of Marine Aviators, to include Frank Schwable, travelled to Great Britain to learn about the fundamentals of radar, conducting ground-controlled interception, and the tactics and techniques necessary to successfully operate night fighters.^[4][5] Upon his return from England, Schwable was designated as the first commanding officer of Marine Night Fighting Squadron 531 (VMF(N)-531) which was commissioned on November 16, 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. This was the Marine Corps first night fighter squadron. ^[6] On April 1, 1943, Schwable was made the Commanding Officer of Marine Night Fighter Group 53 (MAG(N)-53. When VMF(N)-531 finally deployed overseas, Schwable relinquished Group command and reverted back to his role as squadron commander.^[7] VMF(N)-531 was the first combat squadron to leave MCAS Cherry Point. After layovers in Hawaii and Espiritu Santo, the squadron finally arrived at Renard Field on Banika in the Russell Islands on September 11, 1943. Joining Marine Aircraft Group 21, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, the Grey Ghosts flew their first combat patrol on September 16, making them the first naval aviation night-fighter squadron to operate in the South Pacific.^[8]

On January 12, 1944, LtCol Schwable shot down a Japanese Nakajima B5N in the vicinity of Torokina Airfield. During his time overseas with -531, Schwable flew 72 combat missions and was credited with shooting down a total of four enemy aircraft.^[9][10]

He received the Legion of Merit for his service in World War II.^[11]

Korean War

While chief of staff of the First Marine Air Wing, Schwable and his co-pilot were reported missing on a combat mission in Korea in July 1952.^[12] On February 23, 1953, the Chinese broadcast charges that two officers, Schwable and his co-pilot, had said that the U.S. was conducting germ warfare. Schwable was quoted saying the purpose was "to test under field conditions various elements of bacteriological warfare and possibly to expand field tests at a later date into an element of regular combat operations."^[13] When Schwable was quoted confessing to germ warfare, his wife said, "That's the same old Communist malarkey. Nobody believes it."^[14]

United Nations commander General Mark W. Clark denounced China's germ warfare charges. Clark said, "Whether these statements ever passed the lips of these unfortunate men is doubtful. If they did, however, too familiar are the mind-annihilating methods of these Communists in extorting whatever words they want ... The men themselves are not to blame, and they have my deepest sympathy for having been used in this abominable way."^[15]

Post Captivity reckoning and later career

Schwable was released from captivity in September 1953.^[16] On April 27, 1954, Marine Corps Commandant General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr. said he was "an instrument, however unwilling, of causing damage to his country" by the false confession that he later repudiated.^[17] At the board of inquiry that considered whether he merited court-martial, a recently released POW testified. He described how he was tortured during six months' captivity and said that in prosecuting Schwable they would be "persecut[ing] a man who has already been persecuted [and] would merely be playing into Communist hands."^[18] Winfred Overholser, former president of the American Psychiatric Association and longtime superintendent of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a federal mental facility, testified on his behalf.^[19]

The court of inquiry ultimately recommended no action against Schwable,^[17] but he was shifted, according to Shepherd, to "duties of a type making minimum demands upon the elements of unblemished personal example and leadership."^[17] On May 11 he was assigned to serve as the Marine Corps representative on the Navy's Flight Safety Board based in the Pentagon.^[20] The Marine Corps awarded Colonel Schwable its Legion of Merit for a third time on June 22, 1954, for his service as chief of staff to General Clayton C. Jerome in Korea for three months before his capture.^[17]

Retirement and later years

Schwable retired on June 30, 1959, as a brigadier general. He died on October 28, 1988, and is buried in Ebenezer Cemetery, Loudoun County, Virginia.^[21]

Decorations

Naval Aviator Badge
1st Row	Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars and Combat "V"						Distinguished Flying Cross with three Gold Stars
2nd Row	Air Medal with two Gold Stars			Prisoner of War Medal			Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal			American Defense Service Medal with Base Clasp
3rd Row	European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal			Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four service stars			American Campaign Medal			World War II Victory Medal
4th Row	National Defense Service Medal			Korean Service Medal with two service stars			Nicaraguan Cross of Valor			United Nations Korea Medal

Notes

1. Lech 2011, pp. 1.
2. "23 Americans Get Nicaraguan Medals" (PDF). The New York Times. November 6, 1932. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
3. "Marines Fliers to Race" (PDF). The New York Times. August 27, 1933. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
4. Edwards 1994, pp. 6–8.
5. Quilter & Chapin 2001, pp. 1.
6. Sherrod 1952, pp. 158–160.
7. Sherrod 1952, pp. 162.
8. Sherrod 1952, pp. 473.
9. Sherrod 1952, pp. 168.
10. De Chant 1947, pp. 121.
11. Abel, Elie (May 2, 1954). "Policy on P.W.'s Now Shaping Up" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
12. "Marine Air Wing Leader Reported Missing in Korea" (PDF). The New York Times. July 13, 1952. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
13. "Red Germ Charges Cite 2 U.S. Marines" (PDF). The New York Times. February 23, 1954. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
14. "'Malarkey,' Says Mrs. Schwable" (PDF). The New York Times. February 23, 1953. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
15. "Clark Denounces Germ War Charges" (PDF). The New York Times. February 24, 1953. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
16. Lech 2011, pp. 4.
17. "Marines Award Schwable Medal" (PDF). The New York Times. July 8, 1954. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
18. "Marine Ex-P.O.W. Backs Schwable" (PDF). The New York Times. March 3, 1954. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
19. "Dr. Winfred Overholser Dies; Developed Psychiatric Centers" (PDF). The New York Times. October 7, 1964. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
20. "Schwable Assigned to Air Safety Post" (PDF). The New York Times. May 12, 1954. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
21. Lech 2011, pp. 168–169, 188.

References

Bibliography

• De Chant, John A. (1947). Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. Harper and Brothers Publishers.
• Lech, Raymond B. (2011). Tortured Into Fake Confession: The Dishonoring of Korean War Prisoner Col. Frank H. Schwable, USMC. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786465484.
• Sherrod, Robert (1952). History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Combat Forces Press. ISBN 0-89201-048-7. OCLC 1261876.
• Quilter, Col Charles J.; Chapin, Col John C (2001). History of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.

Web

• Edwards, Harry W. (1994). A Different War: Marines in North Africa and Europe (PDF). Washington D.C.: Marine Corps Historical Center.

External links

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101116220057/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819821,00.html "The Marines Decide". Time. May 10, 1954.