Hero Found

The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War

By: Bruce Henderson

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In February 1966, U.S. Navy pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over "neutral Laos". He crashed deep in territory controlled by North Vietnamese army regulars and the communist Pathet Lao, who would eventually capture him and hold him prisoner in a fortified jungle prisoner-of-war camp.

But German-born Dengler was no ordinary prisoner. Already a legend in the Navy for his escape and evasion skills - amply demonstrated during training in the California desert - he would initiate, plan, and lead an organized escape from the POW camp, becoming the longest-held American to escape captivity during the Vietnam War.

Caught in a most desperate situation, imprisoned not only by the enemy but by the jungle itself, Dengler's heroic impulse was to not only get himself out but to free all the other POWs - Americans, Thai, and Chinese - some of whom had been held for years. In a surreal scene of brotherhood and celebration, Dengler returned to his aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger, six months after being shot down - emaciated and ravaged with strange tropical illnesses, but very much alive and joyous to be so - only two weeks before the ship was due to leave the Gulf of Tonkin and return home.

Bruce Henderson served with Dengler aboard Ranger off the coast of Vietnam and here tells Dengler's complete story for the first time, drawing on extensive interviews with the intrepid pilot, his squadron mates, friends, and family, as well as declassified military archival materials, some now available for the first time, and personal letters and journals.

Henderson's riveting account amply demonstrates why Dengler's story of unending optimism, innate courage, loyalty, and survival against overwhelming odds remains for his fellow flyers and shipmates the best and brightest memory of their generation's war.

©2010 Bruce Henderson (P)2010 Tantor

excellent

This is a must hear. Overall it's a good book. The story is one of the most compelling I've heard. I do have a few quibbles, why are known details absent? There's a Werner Herzog movie about this called "little Dieter wants to fly". I highly recommend watching it after you read this book. There are fascinating things in the movie which aren't covered ( one concerning his father that is not quite right in this book). I wonder why the author left these out? There's a part of the movie where Deiter talks about doors, the ability to open doors etc... Werner Herzog gets inside the subjects head much better than this author does. Sorry to complain, because this is a more complete telling of the story, but it's compelling because Deiter is compelling. It's good despite the author and his incomplete account.

great book.

This was well worth the listen. live life to the fullest. life's short, enjoy it!

exceptional!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story, the narration, the writing were all fantastic.

Dieter Dengler a true American Hero ❤

Some people just put a brand in our heart and in our soul.
Nothing can explain the entire life of a man who was forced into a life of struggle and refused any defeat brought on by man .

highly recommended

this was a great story. a lot of build in the first several chapters and a long cool down but such a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good war story.

WOW

It is unbelievable- what he went through is u fathomable

Talk about the will to live and survive!

Gripping story that spans two wars

Superbly written and narrated, this audio book held my attention from start to finish and was excellent company on a long road trip. It's non-fiction that reads like a novel. The events are epic, the characters well drawn and memorable. There isn't a wasted word in the entire book. It's a war story and some awful thing happen, but that is not the focus of the story. The main character is far from perfect, but truly inspirational in his resourcefulness and determination.

Fantastic!

This is a great story of a man who lived life and died on his own terms, even while in captivity under horrific conditions. He was a shining example of the immigrant patriot.

An amazing read

What made the experience of listening to Hero Found the most enjoyable?

A detailed account of a young man of his youth to his struggle to live and escape his captors while in, what was neutral Laos, that the American's at home never new about. Very interesting and never dull.

What did you like best about this story?

While the entire story was extremely interesting I found Dieter's escape to be quite riveting keeping me on the edge of my seat.

Have you listened to any of Todd McLaren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire book was so amazing to me and it is the best book I have ever read. I know now who died in the plane that crashed east of Fresno when I was a child. I lived in the town where it crashed.

Extraordinary story and man

I served at Udorn RTAFB and spent time in Laos during the "Secret War". Glad to see the long-classified stories of our service men finally told - for they are remarkable.

The only acknowledged battlefield was Vietnam, so if it didn't happen in Vietnam (or the story changed to support that fiction, as the Navy did in the story here), then it just didn't happen. Consequently, very few medals were awarded for action in the Secret War.