21 Days to Freedom

Day 1: After a fiery shootout with the guards, the seven POWs who escaped from Ban Hoeui Het prison camp deep in the jungle of Laos split into three groups. Dieter and Duane Martin, an Air Force helicopter pilot, stayed together. On their first  day of freedom — June 30, 1966, 45 years ago today — the monsoons arrived. It rained until Dieter and Duane were drenched and the rice they had so carefully dried and saved was soaked, along with everything else in their rucksacks. They stopped when the came to a banana tree. Whatever fruit had once hung from its limbs had been swiped by the monkeys, whose vibrant screeches and calls were a constant, along with the buzzing of mosquitoes. Soon it was raining so hard they could see only a few feet in front of them. They piled up some large fronds and crawled under them. After an hour, they continued on. The full day of exertion in their weakened state took its toll. Duane looked so emaciated that the sight of him frightened Dieter, who knew he was also looking at an image of himself. Whenever Duane said he could go no farther, Dieter implored, “Just one more hour.”
(To be continued tomorrow…)