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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX
- Thread starter Gatordev
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Speaking of LT Dieter Dengler…..... It was around the time of this photo, that the late LT Dieter Dengler NC of VA-145, went down in Laos, spent ~2 MOS. in a nomadic captivity, then made a dramatic, bloody, and ultimately successful escape & was rescued.
BzB.
Ironically, two years ago a professional painting of my old aircraft at the Navy Aviation Museum won The CAPT DUANE WHITNEY MARTIN, USAF AWARD, honoring the best art commemorating aviation during the war in Southeast Asia. Capt. Martin was a POW with Dengler.
Part of the story:
“…By February 1966 Navy pilot LT Dieter Dengler joined the POWs. In late June the seven POWs prepared for an escape. At that time they were housed in two cells constructed of logs in a bamboo fenced compound measuring 20 by 20 meters. Three towers overlooked the compound. The camp's 16 guards had their quarters and mess hall near the front gate. Each morning the prisoners would be taken to a nearby stream and allowed to bathe and fetch water. They were permitted to walk within the compound until receiving their morning ration of rice. After eating, they were placed in stocks and handcuffs which they soon learned to remove. The guards then would eat together leaving their weapons in the watchtowers.
On the morning of 29 June 1966, while the 16 guards ate their meal in the mess hall, Dengler, Duane Martin & one of the Thai crewmen removed a previously loosened log, left their cell, climbed through an opening in the bamboo fence and secured the rifles from the empty guard towers. The three armed POWs confronted the guards. When they were ordered to remain still one of the guards panicked and began to flee. The three POWs killed the guards and all seven POWs fled the compound. Following prepared plans, they split into three groups: Dengler & Martin, DeBruin & the Chinese crewman, who was very ill, and the three Thais. They planned that if one group was rescued, it would direct a search party toward the other two groups of escapees.
Dengler and Martin and the others made their way through the dense jungle surviving on fruits, berries, and some rice they had managed to save during their captivity. DeBruin, unwilling to abandon his sick Chinese companion, was captured the next morning and never seen again. The three Thai crewmen managed to reach safety, and freedom.
Dieter and Duane floated down river on a raft they had constructed, eventually coming to an abandoned village where the men found some corn. After a night's rest, they made their way downstream to another village. It had been five days since their escape; Dengler was weak from dysentery, while Martin was delirious with malaria. As Dengler watched from the relative safety of some brush, Martin decided to get something for them to eat. Seen by a young girl, Duane entered the village to ask for food when another villager charged with a machete. As Lieutenant Martin fell to his knees, pleading with hands clasped, the man’s first swing cut off Martin's leg. Dengler, too weak to help his friend, could only watch in horror as the villager’s second swing decapitated him. The Naval Aviator was forced to continue alone. 23 days after their escape, on 20 July 1966, Dengler was rescued by helicopter
To date the Laotians have made no attempt to return the remains of Duane Martin. He left behind a young widow and two small daughters. Martin is one of nearly 600 Americans who remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Laos."
The family of Duane Martin did not like the movie.....The truth about the movie, Rescue Dawn.
Actually, he did get jets.
Oh well, I can't keep EVERYONE from getting jets...more fat chicks for me!
Pickle
Wife hunting at Whidbey.Why Harpoons, the Whales are all retired!
BzB
Sent from the bottom of the bottle.
I forwarded this link to my dad, he looked in my grandfathers old logbook and he saw P-51H-5-NA #44-64420 listed for a few flights in 1945. Pretty interesting article.
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