Warbird Information Exchange

DENGLER, DIETER (POW)
Lieutenant (j.g.), U.S. Navy (Reserve)
Prisoner of War (Hanoi, North Vietnam)
Date of Action: June 30 - July 20, 1966
Citation:
The Navy Cross is presented to Dieter Dengler, Lieutenant (j.g.), U.S. Navy (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism during an extremely daring escape from a Prisoner of War stockade on 30 June 1966.
Playing a key role in planning, preparing for, and developing an escape and evasion operation involving several fellow prisoners and himself, Lieutenant (j.g.) Dengler, keenly aware of the hazardous nature of the escape attempt, boldly initiated the operation and contributed in large measure to its success.
When an unplanned situation developed while the escape operation was being executed, he reacted with the highest degree of valor and gallantry. Through his courageous and inspiring fighting spirit, Lieutenant (j.g.) Dengler upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service


LT Dieter Dengler was a German-born American citizen who flew A-1 Skyraiders in Attack Squadron 145 onboard the RANGER. Dengler was known to his shipmates as something of a renegade; the ops officer was always after him to get a haircut and Dengler was forever in trouble over his uniform or lack of military manner. In his German accent, he would protest, "I don't understand." But Dengler was a good pilot, although his flying career was brief.
Dengler, who was awarded some of the nation's highest wartime decorations, was in the late stages of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, family members said. Dengler will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., according to Russell and Gooch Funeral Chapel in Mill Valley. The date has not been set. Dengler was a Navy pilot when his A-1 Skyraider was shot down in 1966 overLaos near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Captured by communist Pathet Lao forces, was marched to a prison camp and tortured for five months. Dengler later wrote of being kicked, battered with rifle butts and dragged behind water buffalo. He also said his captors hung him upside down from a tree, covered him with honey and broke a nest of ants on his face. Ailing and withered to 90 pounds, he escaped through the jungle and was rescued by U.S. soldiers 23 days later. The Navy awarded him the Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and the Air Medal. "People say it was a miracle," he said in a 1979 interview with the IJ. "I came out because I was meant to come out. I cannot say it was my doing. It's beyond strength to do something like that. Something, someone has to help you." Dengler wrote about his captivity and flight in the book "Escape from Laos," which was published by Presidio Press. A movie version of Dengler's life, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly," was made by German filmmaker Werner Herzog and screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1997. The movie later appeared on Cinemax and was nominated for an Emmy in 1999. Dengler was born in Germany in 1938. His father was killed and the rest of his family fled the country during the World War II, according to newspaper accounts. He arrived in New York City in 1957, drifted to San Francisco and worked as a baker, a forest firefighter and a gold prospector before enrolling at the College of San Mateo and becoming a pilot. After the war, he was a pilot for Trans World Airlines.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Weird timing. I'm stationed in Korea right now & I had just scrolled down to the photo of Dengler's headstone when the nightly taps started playing.

darn I hate that song.

Mac