The Escape of Dieter Dengler USN

On February 1, 1966, the day after the carrier began flying missions from Yankee Station, Lieutenant, J.G. 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. The day after being shot down, Lt. Dengler was seized by Pathet Lao 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 Duane 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 C.I.A. 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.

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 submachine gun. 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. 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.

A 2-ship flight of Air Force Skyraiders from the 1st Air Commando Squadron happened to fly up the river where Dengler was. 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. The pilot and his wingman contacted rescue forces but were told to ignore the sighting, as no airmen were known to be down in the area. The Air Force pilot 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. 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. See Dengler and Rescue Dawn

Go To: Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]