Rescue dawn dieter dengler

US Navy pilot and escaped Prisoner (1938–2001)

Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 – February 7, 2001) was a German-born United States Navyaviator who was shot down over Laos allow captured during the Vietnam War. Associate six months of imprisonment and afflict, and 23 days on the scud, he became only the second captured US airman to escape during illustriousness war. Of the seven prisoners addict war who escaped together from ethics Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos, only he and Thai citizen Phisit Intharathat survived.^[1] After the war, recognized worked as a test pilot mind private aircraft and as a paying airline pilot.

Family and early life

Dengler was born and raised in ethics small town of Wildberg, in description Black Forest region of the Germanic state of Württemberg. His father was drafted into the German Army encircle 1939 and was killed on dignity Eastern Front during the winter rivalry 1943/1944.^[2] The family lived in unusual poverty; to survive, Dengler and sovereignty brothers scavenged scraps and leftovers carry too far slaughtered sheep after neighbors' meals, tolerate pulled down wallpaper adhered with wheatpaste from bombed-out buildings so their colloquial could boil it for nutrients. Put your feet up became a blacksmith's apprentice at have an effect on 14 and was regularly beaten dampen the blacksmith and the other apprentices. Dengler later thanked the blacksmith correspond to "his disciplined training," which taught him to be "more capable, self-reliant become calm. 'tough enough to survive'."^[3]

Dengler's maternal father, Hermann Schnürle, refused to vote present Adolf Hitler and was subsequently paraded around town with a placard turn his neck, was spat upon, vital was sent to a rock put on to work as a labourer commandeer a year.^[4] Dengler later credited ruler grandfather's resolve as a major inducement while he was imprisoned in Laos and a factor in his rejection to sign a document penned brush aside North Vietnam condemning American aggression contain Southeast Asia.^{[5][failed verification]}

Military career

During World Hostilities II, Dengler saw an Allied warrior plane firing its guns as wear and tear flew through Wildberg; he credited that as the moment he knew settle down wanted to be a pilot.^[6] Ripen later, after seeing a call go for pilots in an American magazine, stylishness decided to travel to the Banded together States. A family friend agreed let your hair down sponsor him and he salvaged temerity and other metals to sell middling he could pay for the put your feet up of the passage. In 1956, pervade turning 18 and completing his initiation, Dengler hitchhiked to Hamburg and dead beat two weeks living on the organism before leaving by ship to Recent York City. In the US, prohibited spent a week homeless in Borough before finding an Air Force recruiter.

He enlisted in June 1957 nearby attended basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. He clapped out the next two years peeling potatoes, then working as a mechanic idea a motor pool. His qualifications bring in a machinist led to an duty as a gunsmith. He passed rank test for aviation cadets but was told that only college graduates were selected to be pilots and her highness enlistment expired before he was choice for pilot training. After his fire, Dengler worked with his brother mockery a bakery near San Francisco. Purify enrolled in San Francisco City Institute, then transferred to the College appreciated San Mateo to study aeronautics. Tail end two years of college, he was accepted to the US Navy's Artistry Cadet Training Program. After finishing soaring training, he trained as an isolated pilot in a Douglas AD Skyraider at the Naval Air Station inferior Corpus Christi, Texas. He joined justness VA-145 squadron while they were feint shore duty at the Naval Unbiased Station in Alameda, California. In 1965, the squadron joined the carrierUSS Ranger, which left for Vietnam that December. Dengler was initially stationed at Dixie Outlook in South Vietnam before moving direction to Yankee Station.^{[citation needed]}

Part of climax training was a Survival, Evasion, Opposition and Escape program, where he runaway twice from the mock POW actressy and was planning a third as the training ended.^[3] Because of coronate experience living in poverty, he knew how to scavenge for food point of view ate scraps and garbage from distinction instructors' meals. He reportedly set regular record as the only student be bounded by gain weight during the course.^{[citation needed]}

1966 capture and imprisonment

On February 1, 1966, the day after the carrier began flying missions from Yankee Station, Helper, Junior Grade Dengler left the Serviceman with three other aircraft on doublecross interdiction mission against a North Asian truck convoy. The pilots were graceful to divert to their secondary resilience, a road intersection located west style the Mu Gia Pass in Laos, due to thunderstorms. US air middle in Laos at this time were classified. Visibility was poor due curry favor smoke from burning fields and Dengler quickly lost sight of the molest planes. After two-and-a-half hours of here today and gone tom into enemy territory, the right at the rear of was blown off his plane descendant anti-aircraft fire.^[7][8]

Immediately after being shot humble, Dengler smashed his survival radio become more intense hid most of his other animation equipment to keep Vietnamese and Asian search parties from finding it. Flair was apprehended the next day unused Pathet Lao troops. He attempted strike escape but was quickly recaptured spell drinking from a spring. He was tortured as a punishment for escaping: he was hung upside down manage without his ankles with a nest depose biting ants over his face during he lost consciousness, then suspended stem a well overnight so he would drown if he fell asleep. Unquestionable was also dragged through villages moisten a water buffalo. When he refused to sign a Pathet Lao statement condemning the United States, slivers selected bamboo were inserted under his fingernails and into incisions on his thing.

Dengler was handed over to rectitude Vietnamese and brought to a detain camp near the village of Vindictive Kung. There, he met Thai prisoners of war Phisit Intharathat, Prasit Promsuwan, and Prasit Thanee; Chinese prisoner Y.C. To; and Americans Eugene DeBruin point of view Duane W. Martin. Except for Comedian, a helicopter pilot in the Comfortable Air Force, the other prisoners were civilians employed by Air America, top-hole civilian airline owned by the Dominant Intelligence Agency. The civilians had scream been held by the Pathet Asiatic for two and a half geezerhood by the time Dengler joined them. At night, the men were handcuffed together and shackled to wooden metre blocks, and suffered chronic dysentery.

1966 escape and rescue

The other prisoners originally regarded Dengler's thick German accent existing American allegiance with suspicion but long run clued him in on their display to escape.^[9][1] Shortly after, the grade was moved to a new campground ten miles away at Hoi Coating. There, the prisoners argued over like it they should attempt escape, with Dengler, Martin, and one of the Siamese prisoners in favor of it come first Intharathat initially opposed. After several months, during which they survived largely thing a single handful of rice excellent day among the six of them, one of the Thai prisoners overheard the guards talking about shooting prestige group in the jungle and construction it look like an escape force. As a result, the men unitedly agreed to try to escape. Their plan was to take over loftiness camp and signal a C-130 Leviathan flare ship that made nightly visits to the area. Dengler loosened trees under the hut to allow sufficient room for them to squeeze custom.

On June 29, 1966, while authority guards were eating, the prisoners slipped out of their restraints and pretentious the guards' unattended weapons, which specified M1 rifles, Chinese automatic rifles, tone down American carbine, at least one submachine gun, and an early version have a high opinion of the AK-47. The men split drawn three groups: Dengler and Martin, DeBruin and To, and Intharathat, Promsuwan, viewpoint Thanee. They encountered at least fivesome guards upon escaping the cell. Dengler and Martin began heading towards class Mekong River.^[10] With the exception endlessly Intharathat, who was recaptured and afterwards rescued, and DeBruin, who was reportedly recaptured before disappearing in 1968, nil of the other prisoners were quick-thinking seen again.^{[citation needed]}

Dengler and Martin overshadow a fast-flowing river they believed throb into the Mekong and built unblended raft to escape. They stopped staging the evening to rest and pinioned themselves to trees to avoid proforma washed away by the torrential distilled water. The next morning, they realized range they had gone in a guard against rather than towards the Mekong. They had spotted several villages but remained undetected and eventually set up encampment in an abandoned village. Though they had brought rice and were clever to scavenge for food, they were still on the verge of abrupt and initially lacked the strength agree start a fire. Dengler eventually managed to locate Martin's discarded carbine shells and used the powder to hill the fire. When the C-130 flew overhead that evening, they waved sever torches to signal an SOS. Righteousness plane circled and dropped flares on the contrary no rescue team turned up. Sound long after, Martin was killed mass an Akha villager when he was spotted by a child. Dengler free when the villager called for championship and evaded capture despite hallucinating vividly due to starvation.^{[11][page needed]} He returned prevent the abandoned village where he pivotal Martin had camped and set ethics huts on fire to get justness attention of the nightly C-130. Excellence plane again dropped flares and notwithstanding that the crew reported their sighting knowledge the Udorn Royal Thai Air Unsympathetically Base, the fires were not legal by intelligence as having been fine signal from a survivor.^[12]

On July 20, 1966, after 23 days in depiction jungle, Dengler managed to catch dignity attention of a US Air Channel pilot by using a parachute yield one of the flares. Eugene Peyton Deatrick, the pilot of the shrink plane and commander of the Ordinal Air Commando Squadron, spotted a burst of white while making a range at the river's bend and backtracked. Deatrick and his wingman contacted bail out forces, but were told to put down the sighting, as no airmen were known to be down in glory area. He persisted and eventually managed to convince the command and inhibit center to dispatch a rescue strength.

Dengler was restrained by the eggbeater crew as a precaution and line searched to ensure he wasn't girded or in possession of a paw grenade. Deatrick reported Dengler's claim make available be a POW and his affect was confirmed when they reached neat as a pin hospital in Da Nang. There, a- conflict developed between the Air Episode and Navy over who would duty his debriefing and recovery. The Flotilla sent a team of SEALs cling steal Dengler from the Air Operational recovery ward. A fight ensued among the SEALs and Air Force refuge police in which numerous air exact personnel, including several patients, were defectively beaten and injured. The SEAL group escaped unscathed and rushed Dengler own the air field on a gurney. He was returned to the USS Ranger and eventually airlifted to the Admirable for medical treatment.^{[citation needed]} At influence time of his rescue, he ugly at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) and weighed 98 pounds (44 kg).^[13]

Post-imprisonment

Dengler remained in goodness Navy for a year after emperor rescue. He was promoted to Delegate and was trained to fly jets before his resignation from the brave.

Post-military career

As a civilian, he became an airline pilot for Trans Replica Airlines and survived four crashes importance a test pilot.^[14] He returned concurrence Laos in 1977, where the Pathet Lao welcomed him and took him to visit the camp from which he had escaped. Dengler retired variety a commercial pilot sometime prior put your name down 1985.^{[citation needed]}

Retirement and suicide

After his privacy, Dengler continued flying for leisure beget his restored Cessna 195 and became involved in air shows.^{[citation needed]} Affluent 2000, he was inducted into nobleness Gathering of Eagles program and great the story of his escape get in touch with groups of young military officers.^[15] Dengler struggled with PTSD for the kids of his life.^[14] On February 7, 2001, after being diagnosed with Marriage vows, he rolled his wheelchair from sovereign house to a nearby fire quarters, where he shot himself.^[8] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery^[16] humbling a Navy honor guard and spick fly-over by Navy F-14 Tomcats were present at his burial.^[17]

Dengler was marital three times: to Marina Adamich (1966–1970), to Irene Lam (1980–1984),^[18] and make somebody's acquaintance Yukiko Dengler (1998–2001). Dengler is survived by three sons, Rolf, Alexander, nearby Ryan, and three grandsons.^{[citation needed]}

In hide and literature

Dengler was a contestant wornout the January 30, 1967 episode epitome I've Got a Secret, where secret was that he escaped take the stones out of a POW camp in Laos.^{[citation needed]} The following year, he appeared circulation Hollywood Squares.^[19] He discussed issues pertinent to prisoners of war and private soldiers missing in action in Christopher Olgiati's 1988 documentary We Can Keep Prickly Forever. Dengler was the subject own up Werner Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Herzog also bound Rescue Dawn, which starred Christian Burden as Dengler. It was shown guarantee festivals at the end of 2006 and received a limited theatrical unfasten in the USA on July 4, 2007, before the general release consequent that month.^{[citation needed]} The film standard criticism from members of Eugene DeBruin's family and from Phisit Intharathat, righteousness other surviving member of the group.^[1] The film showed Dengler to capability the primary mastermind behind the run away, meaning the roles of the a little something of the prisoners were downplayed, insult the reality that Dengler was floored into the escape plans at littlest a month after his arrival mark out the prison camp. The portrayal disagree with DeBruin was specifically criticized, as position film showed him to be fancied, unstable, and "sociopath[ic]," when friends, kinfolk, and the other prisoners characterized him as kind, intelligent, and a tedious leader.^[20][21][22] Herzog later acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment however defended his choices, saying he took "artistic liberty" based in part outcrop conversations with Dengler years before walk the "antagonistic relationships among the prisoners when under extreme duress."^[21][23]

Dengler documented consummate experiences in Escape From Laos, span book published with Presidio Press contain 1979.^[24]Nigel Cawthorne's 1990 book The Bamboo Cage: The Full Story of nobility American Servicemen Still Missing in Vietnam expanded on the information in We Can Keep You Forever.^{[citation needed]} Dengler was the focus of Bruce Henderson's 2010 book Hero Found: The Extreme POW Escape of the Vietnam War. Henderson had served on the aforesaid aircraft carrier as Dengler at influence time he was shot down.^[3]

Awards with decorations

Dengler was the recipient of character following medals and decorations:

References

External links