Dieter Dengler Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 – February 7, 2001) was a German-born United States Navy Naval aviator during the Vietnam War. He was one of the two survivors (the other being Pisidhi Indradat), out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape after six months of torture and imprisonment. Dieter Dengler was born and 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... MORE

Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 – February 7, 2001) was a German-born United States Navy Naval aviator during the Vietnam War. He was one of the two survivors (the other being Pisidhi Indradat), out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape after six months of torture and imprisonment. Dieter Dengler was born and 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 Wehrmacht 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 steadfastness, despite great danger, was one reason Dengler refused to sign a document decrying American aggression in Southeast Asia, presented to him by the North Vietnamese after his crash. Dengler's first experience with aircraft came when he was very young and witnessed enemy allied aircraft bombing his LESS