All language subtitles for Great.Escapes.with.Morgan.Freeman.S02E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

A daring pilot in
the Vietnam War.

There was this huge explosion.

Boom, boom, boom!

When you're going
down, you don't know

whether you're
gonna live or die.

Trapped behind enemy lines...

Potentially hostile
civilian population.

Things have not gone
according to plan.

In a hellish jungle prison camp.

They're being tortured.

It's just absolutely living
hell on a daily basis.

He decided pretty early on
that he's not gonna survive

if he doesn't escape soon,
while he's got the strength.

Will this master of survival

free himself and
his fellow POWs?

He says, "I'm out of
here. I'm leaving.

Who's with me?"

Or will the jungle
eat them alive?

Maybe they'll die in the jungle.

Maybe they'll die in the camp.

The time is now to escape.

Some of the greatest
stories ever told

start behind bars.

Locked up in the most
notorious prisons

in the world,

spied on by guards
and fellow prisoners,

it takes a devious
mind to find a way out.

It could lead you to freedom,

or it could cost you your life.

But wouldn't you try

when you have
nothing left to lose?

In 1966, the United
States fights

through the 11th year of
its official involvement

in the Vietnam War.

The U.S. is also
conducting covert raids

in neighboring
Laos, which is where

U.S. Navy pilot Dieter Dengler
and six other men cling to life

in one of Laos's most
notorious POW camps.

In the mid-1960s,
the American public

witnesses on a daily basis

the horrors of the escalating
conflict in Vietnam.

But they have no clue of
the secret war and violence

where the U.S. military drops

thousands of tons
of bombs every day,

trying to crush Laotian
communist rebels

and cut off support
for North Vietnam.

Some of the attacking
American pilots

are shot down and
sent to prison camps

like Ban Hoeui Het POW camp,

part of a network of
small jungle prisons

used to hold enemies

of the Vietnamese
communist regime.

Though the camps are small,

often fewer than
a dozen prisoners,

each is a nightmarish prison.

POW camps were
hellish and inhumane,

employing all manner of torture.

Malnutrition,
solitary confinement,

beatings.

You name it.

This combination
of sadistic guards

in a treacherous
jungle landscape

makes camps like Ban Hoeui
Het the end of the line

for many captured soldiers.

They died of starvation.

They died of wounds.

They died of jungle
diseases like malaria.

And they died because they
didn't want to live anymore.

The hellish
conditions of the camp

are enough to destroy
the will of any man.

But Dieter Dengler is
no ordinary person.

He learned to survive on nothing

from the day he was born.

Dengler was born
in Germany in 1938,

so he was a small child
during World War II.

When five-year-old Dengler sees

an Allied fighter plane
fly over his house,

he becomes obsessed with flying.

In 1956, at the age of 18,

Dengler moves to the U.S.,

a brave choice for a German
not long after World War II.

He enlists in the U.S. Navy,

where he becomes a pilot

and masters survival
and escape tactics.

In 1965, he exchanges
engagement rings

with his fiancée,
Marina, bids her goodbye,

and ships out to Vietnam
on the USS "Ranger."

We'd go out and
practice dogfighting,

and he was one of
the better ones.

His flying skills were great.

February 1, 1966.

Dengler's piloting
and survival skills

are put to the ultimate test

when he's assigned a
risky secret mission

deep in enemy territory.

Dieter's mission was to attack

a road intersection in Laos.

What he was trying
to do was actually

disrupt the flow of supplies
coming into South Vietnam.

Dengler flies in the back
of a four-man squadron,

the most vulnerable
position in the formation.

About two hours
into the mission,

the squadron encounters
heavy anti-aircraft fire,

and Dengler takes a direct
hit through his wing.

He says, "There was
this huge explosion

"on my right-hand side.

It was like
lightning striking."

The right wing was gone.

The airplane seemed to
cartwheel through the sky

in slow motion.

There were more explosions.

Boom, boom, boom!

I've been in a
couple of crashes,

and when you're going down,

you don't know whether
you're gonna live or die.

Remarkably, Dengler was able

to steer his failing
plane into an open field.

He survives the crash landing,
dazed but fully intact.

The problem is that he's
alone behind enemy lines.

Local soldiers will
have seen the crash

and could arrive at any minute.

He knows his mission has
changed from attack to escape.

Dengler grabs his radio,
maps, and personal documents.

He destroys them so they
don't fall into enemy hands,

then flees the site.

Unfortunately for Dengler,
the communist insurgents

known as the Pathet Lao
are hot on his trail.

The jungle was extremely thick,

and so he was forced
to stick to trails

that would obviously be
traveled by the enemy.

Those trails kept
leading him to villages.

There was little
place for him to go,

and so they caught up to
him within about a day.

For the next week,
they forced Dengler

on a torturous march
through the Laotian jungle.

At one point, he's
offered his freedom

in exchange for a
written confession

of his country's crimes.

He refused to sign it.

In fact, he said
that he threw the pen

at the communist leader.

The communists then brought him

to a Pathet Lao prison camp.

When he reaches the Ban
Hoeui Het prison camp,

he's already endured more
than most men could handle.

And it's about to get worse.

The one bright spot...

he's no longer alone.

Two Americans, three Thais,
and one Chinese national

are also held captive.

They suffer together
in a hellish nightmare.

There is no hope of escape.

When a prisoner arrives,
the guards strip their boots

and hang them by the guard hut.

If Dengler or anyone
manages to get out,

their feet will be
chewed up by the jungle.

Even if they have boots,

the prisoners barely
have the energy to walk.

The men spend most of
their day and nights

shackled together with
their arms interlocked.

Wooden foot blocks hold
their feet in place.

For food, they're given only
putrid and maggoty rice.

Every day, they're
given only a few minutes

in the yard to stretch
and relieve themselves.

It's a momentary respite

before they're thrown
back into the hut.

They're dealing with
physical deprivations,

emotional stress.

They're being tortured.

It's just absolutely living
hell on a daily basis.

Because America is
not officially at war,

the guards treat the
men as criminals,

kept alive as bargaining chips
that they're free to torture.

Dengler witnesses up close
how these camp conditions

can turn a healthy soldier
into a husk of a man.

One of the first people
that Dengler sees,

he recalls that they had
knocked their teeth out

just to let some of the
pus come out of their gums.

After he saw that,

it immediately came to his mind

that he had to start
thinking about escape.

Dengler decided pretty early on

that he's not gonna survive

if he doesn't escape soon,
while he's got the strength.

So he says, "I'm out of
here. Who's with me?"

There aren't many takers,
and for good reason.

Two prisoner huts lie in
the center of the camp,

surrounded by an
unclimbable bamboo fence.

The only exit is a single gate,

watched 24/7 by armed guards
in the 30-foot-high tower.

A second guard tower
and several guard huts

monitor the rest of the camp.

Even if you sneak
out, you're engulfed

by miles of jungle
in every direction.

When Dengler is
thrown into the camp,

he's relatively healthy,

but none of his fellow prisoners

are fit for a jungle trek,
let alone breaking out.

Duane Martin has been a
prisoner for six months,

with the scars to prove it.

Eugene DeBruin has
suffered even longer,

a staggering 2 1/2 years.

On the plus side,

both men have military training,

a quality Dengler knows will
make them capable partners.

Duane Martin was an Air
Force helicopter pilot

who had been shot
down and captured

in September of 1965.

He becomes Dengler's accomplice,

his closest friend and ally.

Gene DeBruin was an
Air America pilot

who had bailed out of
a burning cargo plane.

He was the reasonable person

who was able to
propose compromises

when arguments would arise
among the men in the POW camp.

These men will form the backbone

of Dengler's escape team.

The non-American prisoners
who worked with DeBruin

for Air America are separated,

not just by spending
most of their time

in another hut, but also
by a language barrier.

Fortunately, the Chinese
prisoner, called YC,

speaks both Thai and English

and can help the
groups communicate.

Dengler, he wants to get
out of there right away,

but the other men in the
camp convince him to wait.

They tell him, "Look,
there's no water.

"You'll die of thirst out there.

"Wait until the monsoon season,

"which is several months away,

but at least you'll
have a chance then."

Dengler agrees to
wait several months

until monsoon season begins.

That's plenty of time
for a master of escape

to develop a plan.

To Dengler, it's
either die in the camp

or die trying to escape

and at least have a chance
at making it back home.

He notices that the
skies above the camp

are still patrolled
by American jets.

Interesting.

The plan Dengler comes up
with will surprise everyone.

He's not going to just escape.

He's going to take
over the whole camp.

In 1966, American
POWs Dieter Dengler,

Duane Martin, and Eugene DeBruin

are captives in this
Laotian prison camp

along with one Chinese
and three Thai prisoners.

Dengler has agreed to
wait several months

to try and escape,
but he's worried

he will be too weak
for a jungle adventure

by that time.

So what does he do?

The clever survivalist
makes a plan

that turns the
situation on its head.

They might not have to
escape the camp at all.

Dengler notices that
almost every night,

U.S. C-130 aircraft fly
directly over the camp

on their supply runs.

Since the camp is dark at night,

there's no chance the
planes would spot it.

But if they create
a signal fire,

it might alert the plane,
securing their rescue.

To do that, Dengler's
plan calls for

taking over the camp.

First, all the prisoners
will need to get out

of their restraints, then
sneak out of the huts

and past the fence.

Second, they'll have to steal
weapons from the guard huts.

Third, they'll split up
and round up the guards.

It's a crazy plan,
and one that requires

every prisoner to
play their part.

Martin and DeBruin, who
know Dengler's training,

get on board.

The Americans choose a fitting
deadline for the escape:

July 4th.

By then, they'll
either be free or dead.

Naturally, the Americans kind of

gravitate towards each
other and work together.

The Asian prisoners
reject the plan,

because they tried
to escape before,

following an American,
and nearly died for it.

So the three
Americans get to work.

The first step is to figure out

the best time to
round up the guards.

The men start by
observing everything

going on in the camp for weeks.

To keep the guards straight,
they give them nicknames.

So each of the
guards had nicknames

that was given to them based
on some of their actions.

One of the most sadistic
guards was named Little Hitler,

because he took great delight
in beating the prisoners

and humiliating the prisoners.

And there was one who
was nicknamed Moron,

because he was deemed
to be not too bright.

And one of them's a
pretty hefty fellow,

so they called him Jumbo.

Dengler also tracks
the guards' movements,

looking for openings to exploit.

One of the patterns
that they detected was,

every time the guards
come down for dinner,

about 4:00 p.m.,

they would leave their
weapons in their huts.

And so the guards were
essentially unarmed

throughout this period.

It's a window of
only 2 1/2 minutes,

but Dengler thinks
it's enough time

if they have it
precisely mapped out.

To keep everything straight,

the prisoners make a crude map.

They would use sticks and stones

to outline the prison camp

so that everybody
got a good visual

on what the plan was and where
everybody was supposed to go.

And then if the guards
came into their hut,

they could simply scatter
the leaves, twigs, and rocks.

The trio determines the days

when there is a minimal number
of seven guards in the camp.

The three frail Americans
aren't enough to take them on.

Dengler needs the other
prisoners to get on board.

Ironically, he gets some help
from the guards themselves.

The guards started
getting really mean,

and they knew it had to
do with the lack of food.

It's overheard

that the captors
are contemplating

faking prison break,

where they would
shoot all of the POWs

in the back and make
it look as though

they had been caught escaping.

This would mean
more food for them.

The concern is that this
could happen any day now.

The time is now to escape.

This means there's no
waiting until July 4th.

They'll have to enact the
plan as soon as possible.

Out of self-preservation
and fear,

the Thai and Chinese
prisoners agree to mobilize.

There were rumors that
the guards themselves

were going to execute
the prisoners.

They were fearful
of getting shot,

so I think that lit a fire
to try an escape attempt.

They'll work together
to take over the camp

from the guards, but
once they're out,

the groups will go
their separate ways.

Maybe they'll die in the jungle.

Maybe they'll die in the camp.

They're gonna die
one way or the other.

With all the prisoners
on the same page,

at least in principle,

Dengler turns his attention
to their food supply.

The plan calls for them
to stay put in the camp

and await rescue after
they signal the planes.

Since they won't be
able to get deliveries

with the guards tied up,

they will need to ration
and stockpile their rice

in case it takes
time to rescue them.

They started by drying
out small portions

of rice in the sun.

Next, they have to hide it
from the ravenous guards.

They knew that it would
be hard to find food

throughout their ordeal.

Even as rice was so scarce and
they were already starving,

they made a hole into
this bamboo support beam,

and they would
stuff rice in there.

Every day, they put a
little bit of rice away.

Their stashing operation
works perfectly.

But eventually, hunger
gets the best of Dengler

and puts the entire
plan in danger.

So there was a pig that
the guards were keeping

to fatten up for a
meal one of these days,

and Dengler was so hungry that
he crawled into the pigsty

and took the corncob
away from the pig

and started eating it.

And one of the
guards got incensed.

The guard drags Dengler
away and begins beating him.

As they witness
Dengler's savage beating,

the other prisoners
realize that if he dies,

so do their hopes for escape.

June 15, 1966,

seven prisoners are days away
from attempting a takeover

of Ban Hoeui Het POW camp.

The linchpin of the
plan, Dieter Dengler,

has been beaten severely
for stealing food scraps.

But Dengler survives once again.

Dengler was beaten, and
the lesson that he learned

was prisoners are
worth less than pigs.

Dengler only uses
it as a motivation.

He's as determined as ever
to overcome his captors.

They've secured a
hidden food supply,

but there remains
the crucial problem

of how they will
get out of the hut.

First, they need to
come up with a way

to get out of their restraints
during the guards' mealtime.

Back in those days,
toothpaste tubes

were made out of metal,
and so they were able

to melt down this
toothpaste tube

and make a key.

By pouring the molten metal

into an improvised
mold in the dirt,

they're able to
fashion a makeshift key

they can use to spring
the handcuff locks

and get free.

They also experiment
and figure out

how to release themselves
from the foot blocks.

These Laotian foot blocks,

the prisoners' feet
are put together,

and then they're kind
of locked in like this,

and then there's a pin
that's driven in between,

so you can't move your feet.

Dieter and his prisoners
find a way to unlock them.

By using a long stick,
they're able to get

enough leverage on the
block to loosen the pin,

allowing them to wiggle free.

Another necessary
piece of the puzzle

is a way out of the
hut and stockade.

They figure out a
rather unique way

of creating a secret hole
in the back of the hut.

They loosen a support
beam from the rear wall

by saving their urine

and pouring it over
the base of the beam.

The acidity wears
away the crude glue

that keeps the pole in place.

This allows them to remove
several floorboards,

creating a secret
way out of the hut.

Then, behind the hut,

they dig a hole under
the stockade fence,

hiding the hole with
leaves and bamboo.

With everything in place,

it's almost time to go.

On the eve of their attempt,

Dengler has refined
everyone's role.

He does a final
walkthrough of the plan.

Just before 4:00 p.m.,
the guards' dinnertime,

the men will slip out
of their shackles.

They will then
have 2 1/2 minutes

while the guards get their food.

Dengler will exit first

and gather weapons
from the guard hut,

followed by the three Thais.

DeBruin will go to
the rear guard hut

to get a machine gun.

The Thai men will storm
the kitchen from the front

while Dengler approaches
from the rear,

overwhelming the guards.

Duane Martin and YC will gather

any missing weapons
from the hunts.

Dengler stresses
that there's to be

no killing and no shooting.

Firing weapons at these guards

would bring not only
villagers into the area,

but also other Laotian guards

who would start searching
for them immediately.

It's a good plan,
but Dengler knows

it's one small
mistake from disaster.

With nothing left
to do but wait,

he dreams of his
home in the U.S.

Now on June 29,

148 days since
Dengler was shot down,

he puts the plan in motion.

At 4:00 p.m., the
Thai men in their hut

count the number of
guards in the kitchen,

and YC signals to the Americans

in the other hut.

Six of the guards
are accounted for,

but the seventh guard
is nowhere in sight.

If this missing guard shows up
in the middle of the escape,

it could foil the plan.

So do they go?

Do they wait?

Dengler knows that if
they turn back now,

they might not have
another chance.

Should they risk it?

He makes the call:

go.

Martin and Debruine agree

So Dengler slips out of the hut.

The original part of the
plan started out well.

They're able to get out.

They're able to
get to munitions.

As they suspected,
the guards had left

their rifles leaning
against the doorway.

Dengler arms himself
with an M1 carbine

and gives two rifles
to the Thai prisoners.

As they head towards the front,

Dengler slowly circles
back around the fence.

I think what you see here
is it's like planning

a full-fledged
military operation,

and so they all have to be
in sync with one another.

But being in sync has been

their Achilles' heel
from the beginning.

As Dengler approaches
the kitchen hut,

he sees a problem.

The Thai prisoners are gone.

No one is collapsing from
the front of the compound.

The guards spot the
approaching American.

Unexpectedly, one of
them is still armed.

He opens fire.

Dengler has no choice
but to return fire.

Bullets start flying.

He feels one go
right past his face.

And as he begins to shoot,

he wonders, "Where
is everybody?"

Because he's completely alone.

He shoots,

hitting the guard in the chest.

One of the guards
flees into the jungle.

Another charges with a machete.

Dieter continues to shoot
as all hell breaks loose.

So much for a silent takeover.

Dieter Dengler's escape
plan has gone off the rails.

The three Thai accomplices

that were supposed
to be his backup

have fled the camp,
leaving him locked

in heated gunfire
with the guards.

The goal was to
do this silently,

because any gunfire would
alert a nearby village.

Reinforcements could
be there within hours.

Things have not gone
according to plan.

When the smoke clears,
all the guards are dead,

except one who escaped.

The plan has failed.

It's time for plan B:

fleeing the camp.

But there's a problem.

The Chinese prisoner named YC

has become violently ill.

He's in no condition to move,

much less flee into the jungle.

This Chinese prisoner,
if he's left in camp,

he'll simply be executed,

and nobody can really
bring themselves

to say that YC
could come with them

until Eugene DeBruin says,

"No, no, no, I'm not
going with the Americans.

I'm going to stay with YC."

And so rather than
go with Dengler,

he elects to help
YC escape the camp,

where they'll hide,
a nearby ridge,

and hope for help to come.

I think this says quite
a bit about Gene himself,

and it's a different
definition of courage,

that Gene is willing
to potentially

sacrifice himself by staying
with his crew member.

With enemy reinforcements
on the way,

there's no time for Dengler
and Martin to delay.

Dieter and Duane shake
hands and say goodbye,

for the last time,
to YC and DeBruin,

both of whom are
never seen again.

It is presumed that
DeBruin was recaptured

and likely killed
by the Pathet Lao.

Or he may have succumbed
to the jungle itself.

The last thing
Dengler and Martin do

before leaving the camp
is reclaim their boots,

or at least, that's what
the plan was supposed to be.

One critical aspect
of the escape plan

was that their boots
are tied on a pole

not too far away from the huts.

And Dengler knows that
he'll be much more effective

if he's got boots on his feet,

as opposed to walking
through a jungle barefoot.

Unfortunately, one of the Thai
prisoners stole his boots,

and so he's barefoot as
he begins his escape.

An escape that will
prove even more harrowing

than the imprisonment.

But Dengler and Martin
have no other choice.

It's out of the frying
pan and into the fire.

It's, in many ways,

trading in one hell for another.

And so shoeless, debilitated,

Dengler and Duane set
off into the jungle,

with a vague idea of making it,

possibly, to Thailand.

Thailand would be
friendly territory,

but getting that far
seems almost impossible.

And right on cue,
the sky opens up.

Monsoons have arrived.

That's a blessing and a curse,

because as much as
the rains bring cover

and much-needed fresh water,

they also spell trouble
if you're trying

to move quickly
through the jungle.

During the four-month rainy
season, it just pours.

Things get real moldy and humid,

and you have to walk in mud,

and the terrain is very
difficult to traverse.

The two men grit their
teeth and push forward.

Martin,

in much worse
condition than Dengler,

begs to stop.

But Dengler pushes him on.

Just look forward.

I mean, I get
emotional sometimes

when I think about
people who suffered so.

They become too weak to
be even carrying a weapon.

Finally, the two men
collapse on the jungle floor,

exhausted.

They spend a cold
night in the rain,

huddling for warmth.

After a hellish night,
the next morning,

the two men are
greeted by the sun.

This gives Dengler a
chance to get his bearings.

He'd put a pole in the ground,

and then wherever the end
of the shadow is formed

will show you East and West.

But just because they
know which direction to go

doesn't make it any easier.

So as Dengler and Martin are
working their way through,

and their feet are just getting

more torn up and more torn up,

they find the sole of
an old tennis shoe,

and they decide
that they're going

to share it among each other.

So they'll go for
a little while,

and Dengler will use
it on his right foot,

and then he'll share
it with Martin,

and he'll use it
on his right foot.

The men trudge along
for several days.

At points, they are so weak,
they resort to crawling

just to keep moving forward.

Though both men are toiling,
Martin is failing fast.

Dengler is forced to carry
him for long stretches.

Duane was very weak,
very malnutritioned,

really couldn't help
find food or water.

And that was something
that Dieter did for him.

The bond was just
really hard to describe

for those of us
that have not been

in that type of situation.

Dengler hits his own low point

when they come to a
mountain too high to summit

and too wide to walk around.

Their only choice is
to backtrack for miles,

which will erase
days of progress.

This is the one time Dengler
allows himself to cry.

Unbeknownst to him,
it's also July 4th.

While Americans back
home are barbecuing

and setting off fireworks,

Dengler and Martin are trapped,

close to death in
a foreign land.

And while the men wander the
jungle for a hellish week

searching for refuge,

the American bombing raids
are still going strong.

Finally, their
luck seems to turn

when they find an
abandoned village.

There's no one to help them,

but there is finally shelter,

and what's more, dry scrap wood

and an open space
makes it possible

to start a fire and
signal for rescue.

They've seen a number of
C-130s flying overhead,

and so the plan becomes,
we'll build a signal fire

and try and signal SOS,

the universal
signal for distress.

And actually, an
airplane drops flares.

Dengler and Martin get
their own firework display.

The flares mean that the
plane has seen the fire.

They think that it's coming back

to figure out who
these aviators are

that obviously need rescue.

Unfortunately, the
plane never comes back,

and so no rescue
helicopter ever shows up.

It's a tragic blow to
their hopes of survival.

If making visual
contact with the plane

didn't get them rescued,
perhaps nothing will.

They still have shelter,

but they can't
afford to stay put.

The village has no food,

and starvation starts
to overtake them.

After a couple of days
without anything to eat,

Dengler decides that they
have got to go find food.

The men go in search
of another village

where they might steal
something to eat.

As they enter the thick jungle,

they run into trouble.

They stumble upon a
man with a machete.

Both Dengler and Martin know

that they can't
outrun this villager.

They decide to show
that they are no threat,

so they both fall
onto their knees

and put their hands up

to demonstrate that
they are no threat.

The villager doesn't care.

Americans are not welcome.

He charges the two men.

As the villager raises the
machete above his head,

Dengler closes his eyes,
and the machete comes down.

Dieter Dengler and Duane
Martin have endured

weeks in the thick
jungles of Laos.

But when they finally
stumble upon civilization,

their relief turns to horror.

With Dengler and
Martin on their knees,

a villager prepares to
deal a killing blow.

But not to Dengler.

In one swing, he chops
Martin's head clean off.

Dengler flees for his life.

Dengler runs off into
the jungle quickly,

and he's not gone into
the jungle for very long.

Then he sees a number of
villagers spreading out,

trying to surround him.

As he desperately
tries to get away,

Dengler's physical
pain has now doubled

from the anguish of
losing his friend.

But there's no time to mourn.

The villagers are
not playing games.

They will kill you
if they catch you.

He has got to find a
way out of this jungle

and a way back to
friendly lines.

At this point,

Dengler is nearly
ready to give up.

But then he remembers

how many times
Martin wanted to quit

and how Dengler gave him
the strength to keep moving.

Life is about suffering.

And the trick is to make
your suffering worthwhile,

to be worthy of your suffering.

Now Dengler finds the strength

to ignore his suffering,

and in the memories of his
friend, to keep moving.

As Dengler takes off

from the site where
Martin is murdered,

he realizes that
he's leaving tracks.

So he backs up, placing
his feet in the tracks

he's already created.

And then he jumps
up on a big boulder.

He jumps from rock to rock,

knowing that they won't be able

to track him over the rocks.

Incredibly, Dengler is able

to make it back to
the abandoned village

he and Martin came from.

Dengler prays that there's
still an ember burning

from their old
fire, and there is.

Dengler knows that
the C-130s would still

be flying overhead at
night and resolves to make

"the biggest damn bonfire
that you've ever seen."

He rips all the dry
material from the huts

and throws it onto a
massive bonfire pile.

When night comes,
he sets it ablaze,

risks be damned.

Soon, a C-130 flies over
and again drops his flares.

They've seen the fire,

but did they know
it was Dengler?

Dengler can only spend
the night in hope.

When he awakes, he listens

for the thump-thump
of helicopter blades.

But all he hears
are the screeches

and squeals of the jungle.

Dejected, he
resolves to move on.

But first, he gathers
up the parachutes

from the flares.

The flares themselves
had parachutes.

It was light linen material,

and he kind of
collected them up,

the ones that were
dropped in the area.

Somehow, Dengler is
clearheaded enough

to think they might
come in handy.

But that's where
his lucidity ends.

As Dengler continues to bash
his way through the jungle,

he becomes more
and more delirious.

He's had no food
or water for days,

and he's starting
to hallucinate.

At one point, he has
a vision of his father

standing at a fork in the road.

The man points to the
left, and Dengler follows.

Eventually, Dengler
comes to a river

where he's able to
grab an unusual meal.

He sees a snake simply
sunning itself on a rock.

He's starving by this point.

He's been starving, so he simply

takes a bite of the snake
as it's still alive.

While chewing on the
half-eaten snake,

Dengler thinks he sees a
bear on the opposite bank.

He has no idea if
it's real or not.

But he watches as
it sniffs the air,

waiting for him to die.

He's about to lose
consciousness.

But then he hears what
sounds like a plane.

The smell of fuel
makes him realize

this isn't a hallucination.

With his last gasp of life,
he takes the parachutes

and tries to lay them
out in an SOS formation.

As the plane flies overhead,

he waves frantically
like a madman.

Surely, the plane must see
him in the light of day.

The plane keeps going.

On July 20, 1966,

over three weeks after
Dengler's escape,

he's ready to meet his maker.

Either he will be
rescued and return a hero

or die alone,
probably forgotten.

Whatever his fate,

he prays it comes quickly.

That day, pilot Eugene Deatrick

is on a routine scouting
mission up the river

when he sees a
strange man below him.

Thinking it's a local fisherman,

he continues on.

Then he gets a tingle
down his spine.

He would later recall,

"I'll never know what
made me turn around."

But he does.

Something made him turn
around, fly back over,

and he recognized that someone
was signaling for help.

They really didn't
know who he was.

They had been looking for
Dengler six months earlier

and really thought
that he was lost.

The pilot sees Dengler
waving his arms

and radios to see if any
pilots have been downed today.

Dispatch replies, negative.

Luckily for Dengler, the
pilot trusts his hunch

and requests they
send a rescue team.

A few hours later,

an angel from heaven appears.

They said, "Okay,
let's take a chance,"

and they brought in a
helicopter and picked him up.

And then Dieter would say

that was the greatest
day in his life.

He hung on for dear life.

The rescue helicopter arrives

and brings Dengler on board.

The pilot of the
helicopter, Skip Cowell,

is the same pilot that
tried to find Dengler

when he was first shot down.

But Dengler's
condition is so bad,

he's unrecognizable.

He's in awful condition.

He's got malaria
and intestinal worms

and fungus and jaundice

and infection
throughout his body.

He's somewhere between
85 and 95 pounds.

His body, quite literally,
has been just eaten away

by the captivity

and living in the
jungle for so long.

A doctor would later say

that had Dengler
not been rescued,

he would have died
within 24 hours.

Cowell requests permission

to fly to Da Nang
Air Force Base,

which has a full hospital,

but his request is denied.

Then a note gets passed
up to Cowell that reads,

"Lieutenant Dengler, Dieter,
USS Ranger, Spad pilot."

Cowell hollers on the radio,

"This is our guy shot
down in February,

been a POW since."

The helicopter is immediately
cleared through to Da Nang.

Once he's more stable,
Dengler is sent out of Vietnam

and reunited with his
friends on the "Ranger,"

with a hero's welcome.

When he came back to
the aircraft carrier,

it was good morale for the ship.

He was excited about that.

Everybody thought
that if anybody's

gonna get out of
there and be alive,

it's gonna be Dieter.

That's the kind of guy he was.

He had survived all his life.

The first thing Dengler
does when he lands

is send a message to
his fiancée, saying,

"I escaped from prison.

"Alive in hospital.

"Will be home soon.

Love, Dieter."

He recovers

and works as a pilot
for many years,

and even survives
four more crashes.

In 2001,

Dieter Dengler passes away

and is buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.

His legacy of courage

will not soon be forgotten.