U.S. SOLDIER CHARGED

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27698, 30 June 1955, Page 13

U.S. SOLDIER CHARGED

Guilty Plea To Collaborating (Rec. 10.45 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 28. An Army corporal who reigned as king of the New York State Fair when he was welcomed as a hero after nearly three years in a Korean prison camp, today pleaded guilty to charges of collaborating with the enemy. The corporal. Harold Dunn, aged 26, pleaded guilty 10 months after appearing as a key witness against a former fellow prisoner. Corporal Claude Batchelor, in a Texas courtmartial. Batchelor has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for collaborating. Dunn haltingly made his confession 22 minutes after his court-martial opened. Dunn received a hero s welcome when he returned home to New York, and on September 5, 1953, he was crowned king of the New York State Fair at Syracuse. He wore the Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge on his uniform that day. The soldier was captured by the Communists on November 2, 1950. In the charges against him made public last May, Dunn was accused under the uniform code of military justice with aiding the enemy with propaganda material and with collaborating with the enemy. The judges, ranging in rank from captain to colonel, began hearing all the evidence in the case to determine whether Dunn really was guilty as stated beyond any reasonable doubt.