Chapter VIII - - LESSONS LEARNED

There are several important lessons to be learned from the Garwood Case at this
time, and special studies in the future might unveil even more. Certainly, one
of the most significant lessons is that military service secretaries must take
timely and decisive action to change "POW status" when sufficient evidence exists
that a service member has collaborated with the enemy. It is not clear why senior
military leadership chose not to change PFC Garwood's status after it was well
known that he had collaborated with the enemy in many ways. Regardless of which
rationales were used not to change status, the fact remains that the USG had
sufficient evidence, from several reliable sources, that PFC Garwood had involved
himself in traitorous activity and had crossed over to the enemy. The longer,
therefore, that PFC Garwood remained in the POW status, the better the
possibility for significant USG problems should he ever return to the United
States. Had PEG Garwood never returned to the United States, however, the change
in status might have remained moot, at worst.

Consideration must also be given to the negative impact upon military morale by
not changing PEG Garwood's status as well as to how this case undermined the
significance of the Code of Conduct itself. If the Code is to have any meaning
at all, it must be learned and then enforced, both reasonably and appropriately.
In PFC Garwood's case, his violation of the Code had been reported by all of the
early U.S. POW releasees as well as by other non-U.S. personnel, at least by late

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