Rescue Dawn: The Story of Dieter Dengler, the U.S. Navy Pilot Who Escaped from a Vietnam POW Camp

Great source of information about what really happened to Dieter Dengler. Puts the tales told by the DeBruin family and their supporters to the lie.

Though just a quick tale of a full life, this story gives one inspiration to never give up. One gets teary-eyed as they imagine the struggle a poor, German boy had in pursuing his dream to become a pilot. I believe his tough childhood gave him the grit he needed to get through the hard times as an adult. Great human story!

Chrissy K. McVay
Author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

This is the story of a German immigrant to the United States who became a true American hero during the Vietnam War. Even as a child living through the horrors of World War II, Dieter Dengler vowed to himself that one day he would become a pilot. To young Dieter, a pilot--any pilot--was the embodiment of freedom, power, and glory. And it was this image that brought him from Nazi Germany to the United States.

But becoming a pilot was not a dream for young Dieter. It was a goal that he would pursue with a single-mindedness that would later save his life. Overcoming all sorts of adversities, Dieter managed to learn English, earn a college degree, and enter an aeronautical training program that ultimately brought him to his long-cherished goal. He was now the pilot of a Douglas A-1 Skyraider assigned to the USS Ranger off the coast of Vietnam. The year was 1966 and the Vietnam War was about to enter a new and even more dangerous phase.

Instead of freedom, power, and glory, Dieter Dengler suddenly found himself totally alone in the jungles of Laos, surrounded by an enemy who was determined to kill all Americans. His Skyraider was a smoldering wreck, his locator beacon was smashed, and none of his fellow Americans back on the USS Ranger even knew he was alive. With little in the way of survival gear other than his own determination, Dieter and several other POWs managed to escape from a prison camp whose guiding principles were brutality and starvation.

The story of that escape--along with the incredible hardships that Dieter endured during his capture, escape and ultimate rescue--have now been turned into a motion picture that is both inspiring and thrilling. By all means, see the movie. But read this story first! And then read Dieter Dengler's own account in his book, ESCAPE FROM LAOS, which was published in 1978. Dieter Dengler was a true American Hero.

Russ Heitz
russheitz.com
MySpace.com/russheitz

Best-selling author Bruce Henderson's "The Dieter Dengler Story" brings to vivid life a little known heroic chapter of the Vietnam War. In 1966, Henderson was a fleet weatherman aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger off the coast of North Vietnam, and he witnessed firsthand the return against all odds of his shipmate, Navy pilot Ltjg. Dieter Dengler, from a POW camp. Six months earlier, Dengler's Skyraider attack aircraft was downed by enemy fire inside Laos, and he was taken prisoner. Henderson charts Dengler's harrowing journey through the jungle. The intense narrative allows us to experience Dengler's attempt to evade the enemy, his encounters with sadistic guards, incredible escape, and month-long trek through the jungle before his eventual rescue. During the course of the story, we come to understand that Dengler's unique survival instincts had been honed as a child in Germany during World War II. "The Dieter Dengler Story" is a thoroughly exciting and moving tale of heroism and the will to survive. This story will be the basis for an action-packed movie, "Rescue Dawn," later this year, starring Christian Bale ("Batman Begins") as Dengler.