Dieter Dengler
Encyclopedia
Dieter Dengler was a United States Navy
Naval aviator
during the Vietnam War
. He was one of the two survivors (the other being Pisidhi Indradat
), out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao
prison camp in Laos
. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape after six months of torture and imprisonment.
in the Black Forest
region of Germany
. He was very close to his mother and brothers. Dengler did not know his father, who was killed while serving in the Wehrmacht
during World War II
. His grandfather was declared a political enemy of the Nazis
for being the only citizen in his town who did not vote for Hitler
. Dengler later credited his grandfather's resolve as a major inspiration during his time in Laos. His grandfather's steadfastness, despite great danger, was one reason Dengler refused to sign a document decrying American aggression in Southeast Asia
, presented to him by the North Vietnam
ese after his crash.
Dengler's first experience with aircraft came when he was very young and witnessed enemy allied aircraft flying over his town from his bedroom window. From that moment, he wanted to be a pilot. He became an apprentice in a local machine shop, but after seeing an ad in an American magazine expressing a need for pilots, he decided to go to the United States. Although a family friend agreed to sponsor him, he lacked money for passage and came up with a scheme to steal and scrounge brass and other metals to sell.
When he turned 18 and upon completion of his apprenticeship, he hitchhiked to Hamburg
and set sail for New York City
with the dream of becoming a pilot. He lived off the streets of Manhattan
for just over a week and eventually found his way to an Air Force
recruiter. He was assured that piloting aircraft was what the Air Force was all about, so he enlisted and in June 1957, went to basic training
at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas
. After basic, Dengler was initially assigned duty as a motor pool mechanic. His qualifications as a machinist led to an assignment as a gunsmith
. He took and passed the test for aviation cadets, but his enlistment expired before he was selected for pilot training.
After his discharge he joined his brother in a bakery shop near San Francisco and enrolled in San Francisco City College, then transferred to College of San Mateo
where he studied aeronautics. Upon completion of two years of college, he applied for the US Navy aviation cadet program and was accepted. After completion of flight training he went to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
, Texas
for training as an attack pilot in the Douglas AD Skyraider
. He joined VA-145 while the squadron was on shore duty at Naval Air Station Alameda
, California
. In 1965 the squadron joined the carrier USS Ranger
. In December the carrier set sail for the coast of Vietnam, stationed initially at Dixie Station
off South Vietnam, then moving north to Yankee Station
for operations against North Vietnam.
On February 1, 1966, the day after the carrier began flying missions from Yankee Station, Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Dengler launched from Ranger with three other aircraft on an interdiction mission against a truck convoy that had been reported in North Vietnam. Thunderstorms forced the flight to divert to their secondary target, a road intersection located west of the Mu Gia Pass
in Laos
. At the time, U.S. air operations in Laos were classified "secret." Visibility was poor due to smoke from burning fields, and upon rolling in on the target, LTJG Dengler and the remainder of his flight lost sight of one another. Dengler was the last man in and was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He managed to crash-land his Skyraider in Laos.
When his squadron mates realized that he had been downed, they remained confident that he would be rescued. Dengler had a reputation from his experiences at the Navy survival school
, where he had escaped from the mock-POW camp run by SERE instructors and Marine
guards three times. He had also set a record as the only student to actually gain weight during the course — his childhood experiences made him unafraid of eating whatever he could find and he had feasted on garbage. Unfortunately, immediately after he was shot down, he smashed his survival radio
and hid most of his survival equipment to keep the enemy from finding it. When a rescue helicopter came near the next day, he had no means with which to signal it. He tried not to be seen as much as possible but the day after he was shot down he was spotted by Pathet Lao guerrillas and captured. At the prison camp to which he was taken, he met Duane W. Martin
, Eugene DeBruin
, Prasit Thanee, Y.C. To, Pisidhi Indradat
, and Prasit Promsuwan.
troops. Bound, he was led through several villages. Escaping once he failed to signal a passing aircraft. He was later recaptured while drinking from a spring. In retaliation, he was tortured numerous ways while in captivity.
Except for Martin, who was an Air Force helicopter pilot who had been shot down in North Vietnam nearly a year before, the other prisoners were civilians employed by Air America, a civilian airline owned by the Central Intelligence Agency
. The civilians had been in Pathet Lao hands for over two and a half years when Dengler joined them. The day he arrived in the camp, Dengler advised the other prisoners that he intended to escape and invited them to join him. They advised that he wait until the monsoon season when there would be plenty of water. Shortly after Dengler arrived, the prisoners were moved to a new camp ten miles away at Hoi Het. After the move, a strong debate ensued among the prisoners, with Dengler, Martin and Prasit arguing for escape which the other prisoners, particularly Indradat, initially opposed. One of the Thais heard the guards discussing the possibility of shooting them in the jungle and making it look like an escape attempt. With that revelation, everyone agreed and a date to escape was set. Their plan was to take over the camp and signal a C-130 Hercules flareship that made nightly visits to the vicinity. Dengler loosened logs under the hut that allowed the prisoners to squeeze through. The plan was for him to go out when the guards were eating and seize their weapons and pass them to Indradat and Promsuwan while Martin and DeBruin procured others from other locations.
With the exception of Indradat, who was recaptured and later rescued by Laotian troops, none of the other prisoners were ever seen again. DeBruin was reportedly captured and placed in another camp, then disappeared in 1968.
cartridges that Martin had thrown away and used the powder from them to enhance the tinder, and got a fire going. That night they lit torches and waved them in the shape of an S and O when a C-130 came over. The airplane circled and dropped a couple of flares and they were overjoyed, believing they had been spotted. They woke up the next morning to find the landscape covered by fog and drizzle, but when it lifted, no rescue force appeared.
The following day, they were demoralized after a rescue force did not appear in response to their signal of the C-130 flareship. Martin, who was weak from starvation and was suffering from malaria, wanted to approach a nearby Akha village to steal some food. Dengler knew it was not a good idea, but refused to let his friend go near the village alone. They saw a little boy playing with a dog, and the child ran into the village calling out "American!" Within seconds a villager appeared and they knelt down on the trail in supplication, but the man swung his machete and struck Martin in the leg. He swung again and hit him behind the neck, killing him. Dengler jumped to his feet and rushed toward the villager, who turned and ran into the village to get help. Dengler managed to evade the searchers who went out after him and escaped back into the jungle. He returned to the abandoned village where the two had been spending their time and where he and Martin had signaled the C-130. That night when a C-130 flareship came over, Dengler set fire to the huts and burned the village down. The C-130 crew spotted the fires and dropped flares, but even though the crew reported their sighting when they returned to their base at Ubon, Thailand, the fires were not recognized by intelligence as having been a signal from a survivor. When a rescue force again failed to materialize, Dengler decided to find one of the parachutes from a flare for use as a possible signal. He found one on a bush and placed it in his rucksack. On July 20, 1966, after 23 days in the jungle, Dengler managed to signal an Air Force pilot with the parachute. A 2-ship flight of Air Force Skyraiders from the 1st Air Commando Squadron
happened to fly up the river where Dengler was. Eugene Peyton Deatrick
, the pilot of the lead plane and the squadron commander, spotted a flash of white while making a turn at the river's bend and came back and spotted a man waving something white. Deatrick and his wingman contacted rescue forces but were told to ignore the sighting, as no airmen were known to be down in the area. Deatrick persisted and eventually managed to convince the command and control center to dispatch a rescue force. Fearing that Dengler might be a Viet Cong soldier, the helicopter crew restrained him when he was brought aboard.
According to the documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly
, Dengler said one of the flight crew who was holding him down pulled out a half eaten snake from underneath Dengler's clothing and was so surprised he nearly fell out of the helicopter. The person who threw Dengler to the floor of the helicopter was Air Force Pararescue specialist Michael Leonard from Lawler, Iowa
. Leonard stripped Dengler of his clothes, making sure he was not armed or in possession of a hand grenade. When questioned, Dengler told Leonard that he escaped from a North Vietnamese Prisoner of War camp two months earlier. Deatrick radioed the rescue helicopter crew to see if they could identify the person they had just hoisted up from the jungle. They reported that they had a man who claimed to be a downed Navy pilot who flew a Douglas A-1H Skyraider.
It wasn't until after he reached the hospital at Da Nang that Dengler's identity was confirmed. A conflict between the Air Force and the Navy developed over who should control his interrogation and recovery. In an apparent attempt to prevent the Air Force from embarrassing them in some way, the Navy sent a team of SEALs into the hospital to literally steal Dengler. He was brought out of the hospital in a covered gurney and rushed to the air field, where he was placed aboard a Navy carrier delivery transport and flown to Ranger where a welcoming party had been prepared. Deprivation from malnutrition
and parasites caused the Navy doctors to order that he be airlifted to the United States.
. He continued flying and survived four subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot.
In 1977, during a time when he was furloughed from TWA
, Dengler returned to Laos and was greeted as a celebrity by the Pathet Lao
. He was taken to the camp from which he had escaped and was surprised to discover that at one point he and Martin had been within a mile and a half of it. His fascination with airplanes and aviation continued for the remainder of his life. He continued flying almost up until his death. He took advantage of an early-retirement offer as a pilot for TWA sometime prior to 1985, but continued flying his meticulously restored Cessna 195, putting it on static display at numerous California air shows. In 2000, Dengler was inducted into the Gathering of Eagles program and told the story of his escape to groups of young military officers. Dengler was diagnosed with ALS
, an incurable neurological disorder, and on February 7, 2001 he rolled his wheelchair down to the driveway of a fire station and shot himself. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
. An exemplary guard of honor was present at the burial as well as a fly-over by Navy F-14 Tomcat
s.
Dengler had three wives, Marina Adamich (1966 – March 1970), Irene Lam (September 11, 1980 – April 3, 1984) and Yukiko Dengler (until his death). Dengler is also survived by two sons: Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and two grandsons.
. His secret, as told to host Steve Allen
, was that he had escaped from a POW camp in Laos. Dengler said that his weight had dropped to 93 pounds by the time he was rescued. During this appearance, both of Dengler's hands were bandaged in large casts. He explained that he had recently cut his tendons by accidentally falling through a sheet of plate glass.
In early 1968, Dengler was a contestant on the nighttime edition of the comedy game show Hollywood Squares
.
Dengler appears in the 1988 documentary We Can Keep You Forever about the POW/MIA issue generally. The documentary was written and directed by Christopher Olgiati. Gerry DeBruin, brother of Eugene DeBruin, is also interviewed. Information in the documentary appears at greater length in the 1990 book The Bamboo Cage: The Full Story of the American Servicemen Still Missing in Vietnam by Nigel Cawthorne
.
Dengler was the subject of Werner Herzog
's 1997 documentary
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
. Herzog went on to direct a dramatized version of the story, Rescue Dawn
, which stars Christian Bale
as Dengler. The film was shown at festivals throughout the end of 2006 and received a limited theatrical release in the USA on July 4, 2007 before a general release later that month. The film was released as a DVD in November 2007.
The movie Rescue Dawn was subjected to severe criticism by members of the family of Eugene DeBruin and Pisidhi Indradat
, the other survivor of the group.
Herzog acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained, but Herzog claimed to be unaware of this fact until after the film had been completed. Herzog states that this narrative aspect probably would have been included had he learned it earlier. DeBruin family members, however, said that Herzog was uninterested in speaking with them prior to the completion of the movie.
Dengler documented his experience in the book Escape From Laos.
Bestselling author Bruce B. Henderson
, who was serving on the same ship as Dengler at the time he was shot down, tells Dengler's life story in a 2010 nonfiction book, Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Naval aviator
Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He was one of the two survivors (the other being Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
), out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
prison camp in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape after six months of torture and imprisonment.
Family and early life
Dieter Dengler grew up in the small town of WildbergWildberg
Wildberg is a town in Calw in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The asteroid 117506 Wildberg was named in its honour by its discoverer, the Observatorium Wildberg....
in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
region of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He was very close to his mother and brothers. Dengler did not know his father, who was killed while serving in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His grandfather was declared a political enemy of the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
for being the only citizen in his town who did not vote for Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Dengler later credited his grandfather's resolve as a major inspiration during his time in Laos. His grandfather's steadfastness, despite great danger, was one reason Dengler refused to sign a document decrying American aggression in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, presented to him by the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese after his crash.
Dengler's first experience with aircraft came when he was very young and witnessed enemy allied aircraft flying over his town from his bedroom window. From that moment, he wanted to be a pilot. He became an apprentice in a local machine shop, but after seeing an ad in an American magazine expressing a need for pilots, he decided to go to the United States. Although a family friend agreed to sponsor him, he lacked money for passage and came up with a scheme to steal and scrounge brass and other metals to sell.
When he turned 18 and upon completion of his apprenticeship, he hitchhiked to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and set sail for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with the dream of becoming a pilot. He lived off the streets of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
for just over a week and eventually found his way to an Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
recruiter. He was assured that piloting aircraft was what the Air Force was all about, so he enlisted and in June 1957, went to basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...
at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. After basic, Dengler was initially assigned duty as a motor pool mechanic. His qualifications as a machinist led to an assignment as a gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
. He took and passed the test for aviation cadets, but his enlistment expired before he was selected for pilot training.
After his discharge he joined his brother in a bakery shop near San Francisco and enrolled in San Francisco City College, then transferred to College of San Mateo
College of San Mateo
College of San Mateo is a community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District....
where he studied aeronautics. Upon completion of two years of college, he applied for the US Navy aviation cadet program and was accepted. After completion of flight training he went to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , also known as Truax Field, is a naval base located six miles southeast of the central business district of Corpus Christi, in Nueces County, Texas, USA.-History:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
for training as an attack pilot in the Douglas AD Skyraider
A-1 Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after a French World War I fighter...
. He joined VA-145 while the squadron was on shore duty at Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 and 13-31...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1965 the squadron joined the carrier USS Ranger
USS Ranger (CV-61)
The seventh USS Ranger is one of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the US Navy in the 1950s. Commissioned in 1957, she served extensively in the Pacific, especially the Vietnam War, for which she earned 13 battle stars. Near the end of her career she also served in the Indian Ocean and...
. In December the carrier set sail for the coast of Vietnam, stationed initially at Dixie Station
Dixie Station
Dixie Station was a geographic position during the Vietnam War in the South China Sea off the Mekong Delta from which United States Navy aircraft carriers launched strikes providing close air support for US and ARVN ground troops in South Vietnam...
off South Vietnam, then moving north to Yankee Station
Yankee Station
Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station...
for operations against North Vietnam.
Shot down
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...
Dengler launched from Ranger with three other aircraft on an interdiction mission against a truck convoy that had been reported in North Vietnam. Thunderstorms forced the flight to divert to their secondary target, a road intersection located west of the Mu Gia Pass
Mu Gia Pass
The Mu Gia Pass is a mountain pass in the Annamite Range between northern Vietnam and Laos, located 90 km northwest of Đồng Hới, Vietnam. The pass is 418 m above sea level and connects Route 15 from Tân Ấp in Vietnam to Route 12 in Khammouane Province in Laos....
in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. At the time, U.S. air operations in Laos were classified "secret." Visibility was poor due to smoke from burning fields, and upon rolling in on the target, LTJG Dengler and the remainder of his flight lost sight of one another. Dengler was the last man in and was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He managed to crash-land his Skyraider in Laos.
When his squadron mates realized that he had been downed, they remained confident that he would be rescued. Dengler had a reputation from his experiences at the Navy survival school
SERE
SERE is a military acronym for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, a program that provides military personnel, Department of Defense civilians and private military contractors with training in evading capture, survival skills and the military code of conduct...
, where he had escaped from the mock-POW camp run by SERE instructors and Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
guards three times. He had also set a record as the only student to actually gain weight during the course — his childhood experiences made him unafraid of eating whatever he could find and he had feasted on garbage. Unfortunately, immediately after he was shot down, he smashed his survival radio
Survival radio
Survival radios are carried by ships and aircraft to facilitate rescue in an emergency. They are generally designed to transmit on international distress frequencies...
and hid most of his survival equipment to keep the enemy from finding it. When a rescue helicopter came near the next day, he had no means with which to signal it. He tried not to be seen as much as possible but the day after he was shot down he was spotted by Pathet Lao guerrillas and captured. At the prison camp to which he was taken, he met Duane W. Martin
Duane W. Martin
Duane Whitney Martin was an American Air Force officer and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.Martin was assigned to Detachment 1 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron , based at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On September 20, 1965, Captain Thomas J. Curtis, Martin,...
, Eugene DeBruin
Eugene DeBruin
Eugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
, Prasit Thanee, Y.C. To, Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
, and Prasit Promsuwan.
Capture
The day after being shot down, Lt. Dengler was apprehended by Pathet LaoPathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
troops. Bound, he was led through several villages. Escaping once he failed to signal a passing aircraft. He was later recaptured while drinking from a spring. In retaliation, he was tortured numerous ways while in captivity.
POW camp
Dengler was eventually brought to a prison camp near the village of Par Kung where he met other POWs. The other six prisoners were:- Pisidhi IndradatPisidhi IndradatPisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
(ThaiThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
) - Phisit Promsuwan (Thai)
- Prasit Thanee (Thai)
- Y.C. To (ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
) - Duane W. MartinDuane W. MartinDuane Whitney Martin was an American Air Force officer and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.Martin was assigned to Detachment 1 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron , based at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On September 20, 1965, Captain Thomas J. Curtis, Martin,...
(AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) - Eugene DeBruinEugene DeBruinEugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
(American)
Except for Martin, who was an Air Force helicopter pilot who had been shot down in North Vietnam nearly a year before, the other prisoners were civilians employed by Air America, a civilian airline owned by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. The civilians had been in Pathet Lao hands for over two and a half years when Dengler joined them. The day he arrived in the camp, Dengler advised the other prisoners that he intended to escape and invited them to join him. They advised that he wait until the monsoon season when there would be plenty of water. Shortly after Dengler arrived, the prisoners were moved to a new camp ten miles away at Hoi Het. After the move, a strong debate ensued among the prisoners, with Dengler, Martin and Prasit arguing for escape which the other prisoners, particularly Indradat, initially opposed. One of the Thais heard the guards discussing the possibility of shooting them in the jungle and making it look like an escape attempt. With that revelation, everyone agreed and a date to escape was set. Their plan was to take over the camp and signal a C-130 Hercules flareship that made nightly visits to the vicinity. Dengler loosened logs under the hut that allowed the prisoners to squeeze through. The plan was for him to go out when the guards were eating and seize their weapons and pass them to Indradat and Promsuwan while Martin and DeBruin procured others from other locations.
Escape
On June 29, 1966, while the guards were eating, the group slipped out of their hand and foot restraints and grabbed the guards' unattended weapons, which included M1 rifles, Chinese automatic rifles, an American carbine and at least one submachinegun, as well as an early version of the AK47 automatic rifle, which he used during the escape from the POW camp. Dengler went out first followed by Duane. He went to the guard hut and seized an M1 for himself, and passed the American Carbine to Duane. The guards realized the prisoners had escaped and five of them rushed toward Dengler, who shot at least three with the AK47. Duane shot a popular guard in the leg. Two others ran off, presumably to get help, although at least one had been wounded. The seven prisoners split into three groups. DeBruin was originally supposed to go with Dengler and Martin but decided to go with To, who was recovering from a fever and unable to keep up. They intended to get over the nearest ridge and wait for rescue. Dengler and Martin went off by themselves with the intention of heading for the Mekong River to escape to Thailand, but they never got more than a few miles from the camp from which they had escaped.With the exception of Indradat, who was recaptured and later rescued by Laotian troops, none of the other prisoners were ever seen again. DeBruin was reportedly captured and placed in another camp, then disappeared in 1968.
Rescue
Dengler and Martin found themselves in a jungle filled with leeches, insects and other creatures that made life miserable. They made their way down a creek and found a river, but when they thought they were on their way to the Mekong, they discovered that they had gone around in a circle. They had spotted several villages but had not been detected. They set up camp in an abandoned village where they found shelter from the nearly incessant rain. They had brought rice with them and found other food, but were still on the verge of starvation. Their intent had been to signal a C-130 but at first lacked the energy to build a fire using primitive methods of rubbing bamboo together. Dengler finally managed to locate carbineCarbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
cartridges that Martin had thrown away and used the powder from them to enhance the tinder, and got a fire going. That night they lit torches and waved them in the shape of an S and O when a C-130 came over. The airplane circled and dropped a couple of flares and they were overjoyed, believing they had been spotted. They woke up the next morning to find the landscape covered by fog and drizzle, but when it lifted, no rescue force appeared.
The following day, they were demoralized after a rescue force did not appear in response to their signal of the C-130 flareship. Martin, who was weak from starvation and was suffering from malaria, wanted to approach a nearby Akha village to steal some food. Dengler knew it was not a good idea, but refused to let his friend go near the village alone. They saw a little boy playing with a dog, and the child ran into the village calling out "American!" Within seconds a villager appeared and they knelt down on the trail in supplication, but the man swung his machete and struck Martin in the leg. He swung again and hit him behind the neck, killing him. Dengler jumped to his feet and rushed toward the villager, who turned and ran into the village to get help. Dengler managed to evade the searchers who went out after him and escaped back into the jungle. He returned to the abandoned village where the two had been spending their time and where he and Martin had signaled the C-130. That night when a C-130 flareship came over, Dengler set fire to the huts and burned the village down. The C-130 crew spotted the fires and dropped flares, but even though the crew reported their sighting when they returned to their base at Ubon, Thailand, the fires were not recognized by intelligence as having been a signal from a survivor. When a rescue force again failed to materialize, Dengler decided to find one of the parachutes from a flare for use as a possible signal. He found one on a bush and placed it in his rucksack. On July 20, 1966, after 23 days in the jungle, Dengler managed to signal an Air Force pilot with the parachute. A 2-ship flight of Air Force Skyraiders from the 1st Air Commando Squadron
1st Special Operations Squadron
The 1st Special Operations Squadron is part of the 353d Special Operations Group at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates MC-130 Combat Talon II aircraft providing special operations capability...
happened to fly up the river where Dengler was. Eugene Peyton Deatrick
Eugene Peyton Deatrick
Eugene Peyton Deatrick, Jr. is a retired United States Air Force colonel, test pilot, and combat veteran. He is best recognized for his role in the rescue of United States Navy Lieutenant Dieter Dengler during the Vietnam War...
, the pilot of the lead plane and the squadron commander, spotted a flash of white while making a turn at the river's bend and came back and spotted a man waving something white. Deatrick and his wingman contacted rescue forces but were told to ignore the sighting, as no airmen were known to be down in the area. Deatrick persisted and eventually managed to convince the command and control center to dispatch a rescue force. Fearing that Dengler might be a Viet Cong soldier, the helicopter crew restrained him when he was brought aboard.
According to the documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a 1997 documentary film made for German television, written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. The film was released to DVD in 1998 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
, Dengler said one of the flight crew who was holding him down pulled out a half eaten snake from underneath Dengler's clothing and was so surprised he nearly fell out of the helicopter. The person who threw Dengler to the floor of the helicopter was Air Force Pararescue specialist Michael Leonard from Lawler, Iowa
Lawler, Iowa
Lawler is a city in Chickasaw County, Iowa, United States. The population was 461 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lawler is located at ....
. Leonard stripped Dengler of his clothes, making sure he was not armed or in possession of a hand grenade. When questioned, Dengler told Leonard that he escaped from a North Vietnamese Prisoner of War camp two months earlier. Deatrick radioed the rescue helicopter crew to see if they could identify the person they had just hoisted up from the jungle. They reported that they had a man who claimed to be a downed Navy pilot who flew a Douglas A-1H Skyraider.
It wasn't until after he reached the hospital at Da Nang that Dengler's identity was confirmed. A conflict between the Air Force and the Navy developed over who should control his interrogation and recovery. In an apparent attempt to prevent the Air Force from embarrassing them in some way, the Navy sent a team of SEALs into the hospital to literally steal Dengler. He was brought out of the hospital in a covered gurney and rushed to the air field, where he was placed aboard a Navy carrier delivery transport and flown to Ranger where a welcoming party had been prepared. Deprivation from malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
and parasites caused the Navy doctors to order that he be airlifted to the United States.
Later life and death
Dengler remained in the Navy for a year, was promoted to Lieutenant, and was trained to fly jets. When his military obligation was satisfied, he resigned from the Navy and applied for a position as an airline pilot with Trans World AirlinesTrans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
. He continued flying and survived four subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot.
In 1977, during a time when he was furloughed from TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
, Dengler returned to Laos and was greeted as a celebrity by the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
. He was taken to the camp from which he had escaped and was surprised to discover that at one point he and Martin had been within a mile and a half of it. His fascination with airplanes and aviation continued for the remainder of his life. He continued flying almost up until his death. He took advantage of an early-retirement offer as a pilot for TWA sometime prior to 1985, but continued flying his meticulously restored Cessna 195, putting it on static display at numerous California air shows. In 2000, Dengler was inducted into the Gathering of Eagles program and told the story of his escape to groups of young military officers. Dengler was diagnosed with ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
, an incurable neurological disorder, and on February 7, 2001 he rolled his wheelchair down to the driveway of a fire station and shot himself. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. An exemplary guard of honor was present at the burial as well as a fly-over by Navy F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental program following the collapse of the F-111B project...
s.
Dengler had three wives, Marina Adamich (1966 – March 1970), Irene Lam (September 11, 1980 – April 3, 1984) and Yukiko Dengler (until his death). Dengler is also survived by two sons: Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and two grandsons.
Military honors
Dengler is a recipient of the following medals:
Navy CrossNavy CrossThe Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
Distinguished Flying CrossDistinguished Flying Cross (United States)The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
Purple HeartPurple HeartThe Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
Air MedalAir MedalThe Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
Prisoner of War MedalPrisoner of War MedalThe Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States armed forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985...
(retroactive)
In film and literature
Dengler made an appearance as one of the contestants on the January 30, 1967 episode of the television game show I've Got a SecretI've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
. His secret, as told to host Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
, was that he had escaped from a POW camp in Laos. Dengler said that his weight had dropped to 93 pounds by the time he was rescued. During this appearance, both of Dengler's hands were bandaged in large casts. He explained that he had recently cut his tendons by accidentally falling through a sheet of plate glass.
In early 1968, Dengler was a contestant on the nighttime edition of the comedy game show Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
.
Dengler appears in the 1988 documentary We Can Keep You Forever about the POW/MIA issue generally. The documentary was written and directed by Christopher Olgiati. Gerry DeBruin, brother of Eugene DeBruin, is also interviewed. Information in the documentary appears at greater length in the 1990 book The Bamboo Cage: The Full Story of the American Servicemen Still Missing in Vietnam by Nigel Cawthorne
Nigel Cawthorne
Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor.He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times...
.
Dengler was the subject of Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's 1997 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a 1997 documentary film made for German television, written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. The film was released to DVD in 1998 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
. Herzog went on to direct a dramatized version of the story, Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn is a 2007 war drama film directed by Werner Herzog, based on an adapted screenplay written from his acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly...
, which stars Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
as Dengler. The film was shown at festivals throughout the end of 2006 and received a limited theatrical release in the USA on July 4, 2007 before a general release later that month. The film was released as a DVD in November 2007.
The movie Rescue Dawn was subjected to severe criticism by members of the family of Eugene DeBruin and Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
, the other survivor of the group.
Herzog acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained, but Herzog claimed to be unaware of this fact until after the film had been completed. Herzog states that this narrative aspect probably would have been included had he learned it earlier. DeBruin family members, however, said that Herzog was uninterested in speaking with them prior to the completion of the movie.
Dengler documented his experience in the book Escape From Laos.
Bestselling author Bruce B. Henderson
Bruce B. Henderson
Bruce Henderson , also known as Bruce B. Henderson, is an American writer and the author of more than 20 nonfiction books. He is a member of the Authors Guild and American Society of Journalists and Authors, and has taught writing courses at USC School of Journalism and Stanford University...
, who was serving on the same ship as Dengler at the time he was shot down, tells Dengler's life story in a 2010 nonfiction book, Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War.
See also
- Eugene DeBruinEugene DeBruinEugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
- Duane W. MartinDuane W. MartinDuane Whitney Martin was an American Air Force officer and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.Martin was assigned to Detachment 1 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron , based at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On September 20, 1965, Captain Thomas J. Curtis, Martin,...
- Pisidhi IndradatPisidhi IndradatPisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
- Rescue DawnRescue DawnRescue Dawn is a 2007 war drama film directed by Werner Herzog, based on an adapted screenplay written from his acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly...
– 2007 film based upon Dengler's escape - The Bamboo Cage – book on Vietnam War POWs and MIAs which covers Dengler
External links
- Excerpt from Dieter Dengler's book, Escape from Laos
- Arlington National Cemetery Website Page For Dieter Dengler
- Rescue Dawn: The Truth addresses inaccuracies in the movie Rescue Dawn