Obituaries : Ambrose H. Nugent; Korean War POW Cleared of Charges

CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. —  The first American officer captured in the Korean War who was charged after being freed with collaborating with the enemy but later cleared of those charges died Monday.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Ambrose H. Nugent was 78. His death was attributed to a “long illness.”

Nugent joined the Army in 1929. During World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur gave him a spot promotion from lieutenant to captain in New Guinea. Nugent also made the D-Day landing in Europe and fought in five campaigns with the 4th Infantry Division.

When North Korea invaded South Korea in June, 1950, Nugent was senior captain with the 25th Division Artillery in Japan. He volunteered to go to Korea with the first U.S. military unit to confront the invaders and on July 5, 1950, became the first American officer to be captured.

He was released Sept. 1, 1953, and in 1955 was charged with 13 counts of collaboration for making propaganda broadcasts and signing leaflets. But after a six-week court-martial at Ft. Sill, Okla., he was cleared of all charges, commended and promoted.

His defense was based on evidence that he aided his captors only under extreme duress and then only to save the lives of prisoners. One fellow prisoner testified that Nugent was so broken by his treatment in captivity that he spent most of his waking hours walking around and mumbling to himself.

After the trial, the U.S. government backed away from further collaboration charges against American POWs in the Korean War. Before the court-martial, five servicemen, including a Marine Corps colonel, had been convicted.