| Frank Hawse Schwable | |
| Birth Date: | 18 July 1908 |
| Placeofburial Label: | Place of burial |
| Branch: | United States Marine Corps |
| Serviceyears: | 1929–1959 |
| Rank: | Brigadier general |
| Commands: | VMF(N)-531 |
| Servicenumber: | 0-4429 |
| Battles: | World War II Korean War |
| 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.
Schwable, the son of a marine colonel who served thirty years, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1929.[1] 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] He received the Legion of Merit for his service in World War II.[4] 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.[5] 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."[6] When Schwable was quoted confessing to germ warfare, his wife said, "That's the same old Communist malarkey. Nobody believes it."[7]
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."[8]
Schwable was released from captivity in September 1953.[9] 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.[10] 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."[11] Winfred Overholser, former president of the American Psychiatric Association and longtime superintendent of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a federal mental facility, testified on his behalf.[12]
The court of inquiry ultimately recommended no action against Schwable,[10] but he was shifted, according to Shepherd, to "duties of a type making minimum demands upon the elements of unblemished personal example and leadership."[10] On May 11 he was assigned to serve as the Marine Corps representative on the Navy's Flight Safety Board based in the Pentagon.[13] 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.[10]
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.[14]
| 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 | |||||||||