Dieter Dengler

Dieter Dengler
Dieter Dengler tours the aircraft carrier USS Constellation in San Diego, CA, on December 1, 1996.
Born	(1938-05-22)May 22, 1938 Wildberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Died	February 7, 2001(2001-02-07) (aged 62) Mill Valley, California, US
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1957 - 1968
Rank	Lieutenant, USN
Unit	Attack Squadron 145, 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 German-born United States Navy aviator during the Vietnam War and later a private aircraft test pilot and commercial airline pilot. He was one of two survivors, the other being Phisit Intharathat, out of seven prisoners of war (POWs) who escaped from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run following six months of torture and imprisonment and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape enemy captivity during the Vietnam war.

Dieter Dengler was born and raised in the small town of Wildberg, in the Black Forest region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. He grew up not knowing his father, who had been drafted into the German army in 1939 and was killed during World War II on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1943/44. Dieter became very close to his mother and brothers. Dengler's maternal grandfather, Hermann Schnuerle, refused to vote for Adolf Hitler in the 1934 elections (which was considered a referendum on Hitler). Subsequently he was paraded around town with a placard around his neck, was spat upon and was then sent to labor in a rock mine for a year. Dengler credited his grandfather's resolve as a major inspiration during his time in Laos. His grandfather's steadfastness despite the great risks was one reason Dengler refused a North Vietnamese demand that he sign a document condemning American aggression in Southeast Asia.

Dengler's first experience with aircraft was during WWII when he witnessed an Allied fighter plane firing its guns as it flew very close past a window young Dieter was peering out of in his hometown. From that moment on, Dengler said he knew that he wanted to be a pilot.

He grew up in extreme poverty but always found ways to help his family survive. Dieter and his brothers would go into bombed-out buildings, tear off wallpaper and bring it to his mother to boil for a meal. Apparently some nutrients remained in the wallpaper paste. When the Moroccans, who occupied this area would slaughter sheep for their meals Dieter would sneak over to their lodgings to take the scraps and leftovers they wouldn’t eat and his mother would make dinner from them. He was also the first in his town to have a bicycle, building it himself, by scavenging from dumps. Dieter was apprenticed to a blacksmith at the age of 14. The blacksmith and the other boys who worked six days a week building giant clocks and clock faces to repair German cathedrals regularly beat him. Later in life Dieter actually thanked his master "for his disciplined training and for helping Dieter become more capable, self-reliant and yes, 'tough enough to survive'".