They Chose Chin Film Analysis

They Chose China was a documentary about the choices and lives of twenty-one soldiers that decided to live in China after the end of the Korean War. The soldiers’ decisions were affected by many factors such as an interest in socialism or a call for peace. However, the majority of the men were influenced by the discrimination they felt at home, especially due to fear sparked by the Cold War. To most in the United States, the armistice of the Korean War came as a surprise. Cold War tensions were only rising and a truce with a Communist nation seemed to most, unreal. When the two Korean sides came to agreement that included a choice of repatriation, the vast majority of American prisoners of war captured by the Chinese revealed their desire to stay in China. …show more content…
The soldiers were shocked and appalled to have seen what became of their fellow prisoner of wars, Adam Wilson and Richard Tenneson, once they returned to the United States. Instead of being received as heroes, they were accused of harboring communist ideals and were forced into prison by act of McCarthyism. If that was not the only reason for the choice of the POWs, then the treatment they received in the Chinese war camps would have given the final push. The documentary showed clips of the Americans going to school, preparing their own food, playing games, and even participating in a rudimentary Olympic games. The American soldiers compared in the humanitarian treatment they received by the Chinese to those of their comrades who returned to the United States and decided one provided a much brighter future. Of course, Cold War tensions were not the only thing driving the men to stay. Corporal Clarence Adams of Memphis, Tennessee was persuaded by the harsh reality of racism within the US. Going back home would only result in discrimination of employment, limitation of rights, being forced to segregation, etc. In his testimony,