Bert Cumby

Career

Military Intelligence Corps After the war, Cumby was assigned intelligence duties and played an important role during the Korean War in the debriefing of returning American prisoners of war (POWs) following Operation Big Switch. He was later called before the United States Senate to answer questions of alleged communist indoctrination of American POWs, during which he testified to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that roughly one-third of all American POWs had collaborated "to some degree" with their North Korean and Chinese captors, often due to thought reform overseen by officers of the Soviet Army as part of an international communist conspiracy. According to Cumby, POWs were required to attend a series of twelve classes on Marxism–Leninism, while coursework beyond the twelfth lecture was voluntary. Those prisoners who elected to continue instruction were identified as a "core" element for the alleged indoctrination regime. Cumby also testified that, based on his analysis of the curricula of the advanced courses, he had concluded that the ultimate strategic vision of the People's Republic of China was to assume China's seat in the United Nations and to establish diplomatic relations with the United States. Cumby alleged that the pre-repatriation indoctrination of American POWs was intended to create a nucleus of post-war civilians who would advocate in the United States for these objectives.

Later in his career he was an instructor at the United States Army Intelligence Center and served as head of research for the Military Intelligence Corps. Esther Cumby, a third generation New Englander, was a schoolteacher by profession. Early in her career she volunteered to teach in a segregated school. According to Cumby, upon accepting the assignment, she "knew practically nothing of the separate schools for Negroes" and had volunteered "not because of any great race consciousness ... but because the pay scale was more attractive". A resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1976 he campaigned for the reelection of United States Senator John Glenn Beall Jr.

He died of cancer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center at age 69.