Dieter Dengler - Later Life and Death

Later Life and Death

Dengler remained in the Navy for a year, was promoted to Lieutenant, and was trained to fly jets. When his military obligation was satisfied, he resigned from the Navy and applied for a position as an airline pilot with Trans World Airlines. He continued flying and survived four subsequent crashes as a civilian test pilot.

In 1977, during a time when he was furloughed from TWA, Dengler returned to Laos and was greeted as a celebrity by the Pathet Lao. He was taken to the camp from which he had escaped and was surprised to discover that at one point he and Martin had been within a mile and a half of it. His fascination with airplanes and aviation continued for the remainder of his life. He continued flying almost up until his death. He took advantage of an early-retirement offer as a pilot for TWA sometime prior to 1985, but continued flying his meticulously restored Cessna 195, putting it on static display at numerous California air shows. In 2000, Dengler was inducted into the Gathering of Eagles program and told the story of his escape to groups of young military officers. Dengler was diagnosed with ALS, an incurable neurological disorder, and on February 7, 2001 he rolled his wheelchair down to the driveway of a fire station and shot himself. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. An exemplary guard of honor was present at the burial as well as a fly-over by Navy F-14 Tomcats.

Dengler was married three times: Marina Adamich (1966 – March 1970), Irene Lam (September 11, 1980 – April 3, 1984) and Yukiko Dengler (1998 until his death). Dengler is also survived by two sons: Rolf and Alexander Dengler, and two grandsons.