At the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, Colorado, it was heartwarming to have Dieter Dengler’s eldest son, Rolf, in attendance, with his lovely wife, Jennifer, and their baby boy, Tayden. Rolf, who lives in Denver, looks like Dieter; every bit as handsome and charming as his father. Also, Rolf has inherited something else from his Dad: he teaches survival and “self-reliance” training, and is an expert in the mountains and woods. Check out his web site: www.RolfDengler.com. I love his tag line (an old Mongolian proverb): “If you’re afraid, don’t do it. If you do it, don’t be afraid.” Dieter could not have said it better himself. Also joining us that special night was Dr. David Garfield, a Denver oncologist, who as a young Navy doctor on duty at a field hospital in Da Nang treated Dieter after he was brought in by the rescue helicopter. That night, David spent hours listening to Dieter tell his story, which seemed more important to the escaped (and starving) POW than even eating the food placed in front of him. It all made such an impression on David that he wrote a letter home to his wife, Myrna, the following day, detailing Dieter’s remarkable story. She thought the missive important enough to save. After all these years, David and Myrna brought with them to the bookstore the original letter, and he read it to a captivated audience. (Note: The 7/18 edition of the Denver Post listed HERO FOUND as the #3 nonfiction bestseller.)
After a brief stop at home in the San Francisco area, I flew to Pasadena, California, for a reading and signing at Vroman’s bookstore. It was a pleasure to have in attendance some of my former shipmates from USS Ranger (1965-67), including my good friend, Conrad “Connie” Liberty, of El Segundo, Calif., to whom I have dedicated HERO FOUND. The big news about Ranger, which came from another ex-shipmate, Stew Hunter, is that the ship finally has a location in Oregon (Fairview, on the Columbia River southeast of Portland) where the aircraft carrier may find a new home. The Navy has had the big ship on “museum hold” for the USS Ranger Foundation — www.uss-ranger.org — to find a suitable site. Contributions are still needed, however, so please join us in helping this come to fruition. When the ship is finally opened to the public as a floating education center, museum and memorial, Ranger will have on its broad deck a plaque honoring its most famous pilot and former POW: Dieter Dengler.
The next day it was on to Coronado, near San Diego — home to a naval air station and Navy SEAL training center. A lively crowd at Bay Books included Gaylord “Hap” Hill, a retired Navy Captain and the Public Affairs Officer to whom Dieter was assigned during his months at San Diego Naval Hospital following his rescue. Once Dieter was recovered and allowed to meet the press and public, he was accompanied by Hap on his many travels, including to Washington D.C., where Dieter testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and to New York for an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I interviewed Hap early in my research, and he gave me many great “Dieter stories” for the book. Thank you, Hap!
Rolf Dengler says
July 19, 2010 at 7:21 amWow, Bruce, you flatter me and my family. It’s so hard to find a focal point to start my comments. You have done so much for my father — your friend and former shipmate — and with your book, HERO FOUND, have indeed presented a torch of deep respect and love towards who he was to you and the rest of the world. I am such a late comer in this whole story, with all the names and faces springing up around the publication of your book with vigor about my father’s life. It seems everyone has a favorite story about him.
I am so very proud to know you Bruce, and although I feel a bit behind the curtain at a lavish party, it’s splendid to sit back and watch all the magic materialize.
My father was indeed unique. I remember him talking about his stay with head hunters in Borneo, and another story about attempting to get a rhinoceros to charge him in Africa. Yeah, sure, I thought. But I always gave him a smile for his efforts to make a story colorful. Then, I found one of the photo albums of him when he was younger, and following his return from Vietnam. There was a black and white image of him towering above this raw human existence of men, obviously deep in the jungle of Borneo. They had blow guns, spears, didn’t smile, and didn’t wear much. On another page was a picture of a cheetah licking the salt off his arm in Africa as he sat grinning under a shade tree. Below it, a shot of him some 200 yards from a dark rhino that was staring him down. The photo was snapped as my father was about three feet off the ground, jumping up and waving his arms — no doubt encouraging a charge. He was full of so much life, it just couldn’t be contained. Even near the end of his life, when he was living with ALS, he accomplished many unique things when he could barely negotiate a hallway. His ingenuity and self-reliance always made me feel like an apprentice whenever we worked on projects. I loved it.
Thank you again for your beautiful gift, your open friendship, and the ghost in your computer which helped you tell the story of Dieter Dengler, because it’s a fine one, Bruce.
All the best, and respectfully,
Rolf
RLompart says
July 22, 2010 at 3:58 amJust finished your book, Hero Found, and went to your blog. First I wanted to praise the book as I enjoyed reading it and feel the men and women of the Vietnam War were wrongly portrayed by many at the time. Dengler’s story is truly one of courage and heroism.
I do believe Floyd “Jimmy” Thompson was the longest-held American POW of the war, not Lt. Everett Alvarez, Jr.
Once again thanks for such a great book – I will recommend it to my reading friends.
R. Lompart
Bruce Henderson says
August 8, 2010 at 10:53 pmFloyd “Jimmy” Thompson, who headed a 12-man U.S. Army Special Forces intelligence team, was captured on March 26, 1964, when a small plane in which he was a passenger crashed in a mountainous region of Vietnam. He was held a POW until his release on March 16, 1973 — just short of nine years and several months longer than Navy pilot Alvarez. Thompson’s story is the subject of Glory Denied, a book that chronicles his struggles both in Vietnam and with the reality that awaited him back home.
Paul Mariani says
August 20, 2010 at 11:49 pmBruce, I’m a retired NYPD Sergeant and am friends with many Vietnam Vets. I just finished HERO FOUND and thought it was incredible. Dengler epitomized what a hero is. This book can only give one strength. To get through the small BS in life is NOTHING compared to this surreal story. God bless Dieter Dengler. MAKE IT A MOVIE!!!!!!!!!