NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Dieter Dengler

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, of an escape from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run.^[1] is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... USS Constellation (CV-64), a Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the new constellation of stars on the flag of the United States. ... Wildberg A small village near Stuttgart, Germany. ... Mill Valley is a city located in Marin County, California. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... USN redirects here. ... Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... USN redirects here. ... The seventh USS Ranger (CVA-61) (later CV-61) was a United States Navy Forrestal-class supercarrier. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam Peopleâ€™s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... The Navy Cross is the second highest medal that can be awarded by the Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. ... The Distinguished Flying Cross. ... For other uses, see Purple Heart (disambiguation). ... Air Medal Ribbon The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States which was established by Executive Order 9158, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, on May 11, 1942. ... is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... USN redirects here. ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft. ... Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian that worked as a kicker with Air America during the Vietnam War. ... Pathet Lao (Laotian, Land of Laos) was a communist, nationalist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid 20th century. ...

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. Wildberg A small village near Stuttgart, Germany. ... A map of Germany, showing the Black Forest in red. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was founded by Ho Chi Minh and was recognized by China and the USSR in 1950. ...

Dengler's first experience with aircraft came when he was very young and witnessed 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. For other uses, see Blacksmith (disambiguation). ... A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. ...

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. This article is about the state. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ... Seal of the Air Force. ... Lackland Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force located to the west of San Antonio, Texas, USA. It is the main entry processing station (Basic Training)/(Basic Military Instruction) for Air Force recruits. ... San Antonio redirects here. ... Volkswagen AG (ISIN: DE0007664005), or VW, is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Four aircraft carriers, (bottom-to-top) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and in most cases recover aircraft, acting as a sea...

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 AD-6/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. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2100x1682, 385 KB) // http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2100x1682, 385 KB) // http://www. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... The seventh USS Ranger (CVA-61) (later CV-61) was a United States Navy Forrestal-class supercarrier. ... The Douglas A-1 (formerly AD) Skyraider was a U.S. single-seat attack bomber of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... LAOS redirects here. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...

Evasion, captivity and rescue

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. Pathet Lao (Laotian, Land of Laos) was a communist, nationalist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid 20th century. ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bamboo (disambiguation). ...

POW Camp

Dengler was eventually brought to a prison camp where he met other POWs. The other six prisoners were: Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

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 squeese 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. Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian that worked as a kicker with Air America during the Vietnam War. ... Duane Whitney Martin (January 2, 1940 - July 3, 1966) was an American soldier that served during the Vietnam War. ... Eugene Henry DeBruin (April 1, 1933 - ?) was a former US Air Force Staff Sergeant, and a member of Air America during the Vietnam War. ...

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. 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 unaable to keep up. They intended to get over the nearest ridge and wait for rescue. Dengler and Martin went off by themsevles 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. is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... View of the Mekong before the sunset The Mekong is one of the worlds major rivers. ...

Rescue

Dengler and Martin found themselves in a jungle filled with leeches, insects and other creatures that made life miserable. Their only consolation was that they were free. 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 tender, 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!" Dengler and Martin knelt down on the trail in supplication to the village who came running toward them, but the man swung his machete and struck Martin in the leg. He swung again and hit him behind the neck. Dengler saw blood spurt from his friend's neck and rushed the villager, then ran into the bush. 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 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, that no airmen were known to be down in the area. Deatrick perservered and eventually managed to convince the command and control center to dispatch a resuce force. Fearing that Dengler might be a Viet Cong soldier, the helicopter crew restrained him when he was brought aboard. Kha, or Ha, (Х, х) is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, representing the voiceless velar fricative /x/ (pronounced like the ch in German Bach). It is derived from the greek letter chi. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Eugene Peyton Deatrick, Jr. ... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ...

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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... 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. ... Lawler is a city located in Chickasaw County, Iowa. ...

Later life and death

Dengler continued flying upon his return to the United States and survived 4 subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot. He continued flying almost up until his death. Dengler died on February 7, 2001 of Lou Gehrig's Disease, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrigs Disease, Maladie de Charcot or motor neurone disease) is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

At the time of his death he was married to Yukiko Dengler. Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Dengler is also survived by two sons: Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and one grandchild.

Military honors

The Navy Cross is the second highest medal that can be awarded by the Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. ... The Distinguished Flying Cross. ... For other uses, see Purple Heart (disambiguation). ... Air Medal Ribbon The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States which was established by Executive Order 9158, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, on May 11, 1942. ...

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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Werner Herzog (born Werner StipetiÄ‡ on September 5, 1942) is a critically and internationally acclaimed German film director, screenwriter, actor, and opera director. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... 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. ... Rescue Dawn is a 2007 movie starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. ... Christian Charles Philip Bale (also known professionally as Christian Morgan Bale; born 30 January 1974) is a British[2][3] method actor who is known for his roles in the films American Psycho, Shaft, Equilibrium, The Machinist, Batman Begins and The Prestige, among others. ...

References

Contents

Biography

Family and early life

1 February 1966

Evasion, captivity and rescue

Capture

POW Camp

Escape

Rescue

Later life and death

Military honors

In film and literature

References

See Also

External links

Contents

Biography GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Family and early life

1 February 1966

Evasion, captivity and rescue

Capture

POW Camp

Escape

Rescue

Later life and death

Military honors

In film and literature

References

See Also

External links

Biography