| Dieter Dengler
United States Navy |
|
|---|---|
| May 22, 1938 - February 7 2001 (aged 62) | |
 Dieter Dengler tours the aircraft carrier USS Constellation in San Diego, CA, on December 1, 1996. |
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| Place of birth | Wildberg, Germany |
| Place of death | Mill Valley, CA |
| Allegiance |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1958-1968 |
| Rank | Lieutenant, USN |
| Unit | , USS Ranger (CV-61) |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War (Flaming Dart I operations) |
| Awards | Navy Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Purple Heart Air Medal |
Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 - February 7, 2001) was a United States Navy pilot 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.[1]
Contents |
Biography
Family and early life
Dieter Dengler grew up in the small town of Wildberg 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 German army 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 willingness to remain steadfast despite great danger was one reason Dengler refused to sign a document decrying American aggression in Southeast Asia, which was presented to him by the North Vietnamese 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. In post-war Germany there were few opportunities for a budding pilot, so Dengler bided his time and did some apprentice work as a blacksmith and clockmaker to help the family make ends meet. When he turned 18, he headed to New York 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 went to basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. After basic, Dengler ended up in the kitchen peeling potatoes. After four years in the Air Force and never getting near a plane, Dengler realized he needed to go to college. He ended up living out of a Volkswagen bus in California while attending night school. After receiving his US citizenship and degree, he joined the US Navy. Promptly after completing flight school successfully, he was put on an aircraft carrier headed for Vietnam.
1 February 1966
In 1966, Dengler served aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61) with VA-145 (Attack Squadron 145). At the time, the squadron was equipped with the Douglas A-1H Skyraider, a single engine, propeller driven attack plane. On the morning of February 1, Lt. Dengler launched from the Ranger with three other aircraft on an interdiction mission near the Laotian border. Visibility was poor due to weather, and upon rolling in on the target, Lt. 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 was forced to crash-land his Skyraider in Laos.
Evasion, captivity and rescue
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Capture
Lt. Dengler managed to evade capture for a time, but was eventually apprehended by Pathet Lao troops. They bound his hands and marched him through the jungle, stopping at various villages along the way. At one point, he escaped, but was captured again when he came down from higher ground to get water. From this point on, his captors tortured him. They devised various methods, but some included hanging him upside down while putting ant nests on his face until he passed out, inserting bamboo shoots under his fingernails and skin and suspending him in a well.
POW Camp
Dengler was eventually brought to a prison camp where he met other POWs. The other six prisoners were:
- Pisidhi Indradat (Thai)
- Prasit Promsuwan (Thai)
- Prasit Thanee (Thai)
- Y.C. To (Chinese)
- Duane W. Martin (American)
- Eugene DeBruin (American)
Initially, the other prisoners didn't trust Dengler, but after some time, they revealed their escape plans to Dengler. These plans became moot when the Pathet Lao moved them to a new camp. After the move, a strong debate ensued among the prisoners, with Dengler, Martin and Prasit arguing for escape while Indradat was opposed. Once they overheard their captors discussing the potential of shooting them in the jungle and making it look like an escape attempt, everyone agreed on a date to escape. Their plan was to take over the camp and signal a C-130 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 guard's unattended weapons, which included M1 rifles, Chinese automatic rifles, an American carbine and at least one submachinegun. Dengler went out first followed by two of the Thais. He went to the guard hut and seized an M1 for himself, and passed two Chinese automatic rifles to the Thais. The guards realized the prisoners had escaped and five of them rushed toward Dengler, who shot at least three with the M1. One of the Thais shot a popular guard in the leg. CONTRADICTION - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_W._Martin page says Indradat shot all 5. Two others ran off, presumably to get help, although at least one had been wounded. The seven prisoners split into three groups. Indradat, and the other Thai prisoners; 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.
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 carbine 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. Several days after the escape, demoralized after a rescue force didn't appear in response to their signal of the C-130 flareship, Martin decided to approach a Kha village they had passed while floating down a river. Dengler knew it was not a good idea, but refused to let his friend go into the village alone. They saw a little boy playing with a dog, and the child ran into the village calling out "Amelican!" Martin knelt down on the trail in supplication to the villager who came running toward them (Dengler waited in the brush), but the man swung his machete and struck Martin in the leg. He swung again and hit him behind the neck, killing him. Knowing he was too weak to help, Dengler ran. Dengler managed to evade the searchers who went out after him and escape back into the jungle. He returned to an abandoned village where the two had been spending their time and where he and Martin had signaled a 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 Group 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, that no airmen were known to be down in the area. Deatrick persevered 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.
Later life and death
Dengler continued flying upon his return to the United States and survived 4 subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot.[2] He continued flying almost up until his death, as a pilot for TWA. In 2000, Dengler was inducted[3] into the Gathering of Eagles program and told the story of his escape to groups of young military officers. Dengler died on February 7, 2001 of Lou Gehrig's Disease, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. An exemplary guard of honor was present at the burial. During his life, Dengler had three wives:
At the time of his death he was married to Yukiko Dengler. Dengler is also survived by two sons: Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and one grandchild.
Military honors
Dengler is a recipient of the following medals:
In film and literature
Dengler was the subject of Werner Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Herzog went on to direct a dramatised 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. Dengler documented his experience in the book Escape From Laos.
- Publisher: Presidio Press (June 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 089141293X
- ISBN-13: 978-0891412939
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ Werner Herzog. Rescue Dawn [DVD].
- ^ [2] Dengler Gathering of Eagles 2000 Biography. Retrieved November 23, 2007.
