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9.39.2 Background on the U.S. Code of Conduct. Although misconduct by POWs wasnot unique to the Korean War, the Code of Conduct was introduced after public awareness ofinstances of misconduct by U.S. servicemembers during their captivity as POWs during theKorean War. The Secretary of Defense established a committee that recommended that a unifiedand purposeful standard of conduct for Americans who become POWs be promulgated. 940President Dwight D. Eisenhower promulgated the Code of Conduct on August 17, 1955. 941 Areview of the Code of Conduct after the return of U.S. POWs from the Vietnam War confirmedthe value of the Code of Conduct. 942940 The Secretary of Defense’s Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War, POW The Fight Continues After TheBattle: The Report of the Secretary of Defense's Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War, vii (Aug. 1955) (“[T]heCommittee unanimously agreed that Americans require a unified and purposeful standard of conduct for ourprisoners of war backed up by a first class training program. This position is also wholeheartedly supported by theconcensus [sic] of opinion of all those who consulted with the Committee. From no one did we receive strongerrecommendations on this point than from the former American prisoners of war in Korea-officers and enlistedmen.”).941 Executive Order 10631, Code of Conduct for Members of the Armed Forces of the United States, 20 FEDERALREGISTER 163 (Aug. 20, 1955).942 DoD, Report of the Defense Review Committee for the Code of Conduct 6-7 (1976) (“There was consistentagreement throughout Committee proceedings that the Code of Conduct has served as a useful guide to theAmerican Serviceman through a wide spectrum of circumstances during normal service, on the battlefield and incaptivity. It represents the high standard of behavior which is expected of the individual and which he may expectof all other members of the Armed Forces. There was never any question that the Code is needed, and some POWreturnees attributed their very survival to the inspiration provided by the Code of Conduct.”).643