Eugene Peyton Deatrick Eugene Peyton Deatrick , Jr . ( born November 17 , 1924 ) is a retired United States Air Force colonel , test pilot , and combat veteran . He is best recognized for his role in the rescue of United States Navy Lieutenant Dieter Dengler during the Vietnam War . The rescue was recounted in the Werner Herzog films " Little Dieter Needs to Fly " and " Rescue Dawn " and the national bestseller " " by author Bruce B . Henderson . Early life and education . Eugene P . Deatrick , Jr . was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , the only child of Dr . Lily Bell Sefton Deatrick and Dr . Eugene P . Deatrick , Sr . He grew up in Morgantown , West Virginia where his mother was a professor of Chemistry and his father a professor of Agriculture at West Virginia University . Deatrick graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington , D . C . in 1942 . During his first year of college at West Virginia University , Deatrick enlisted in the Air Corps Reserve . He was nominated to the United States Military Academy by Senator Jennings Randolph in 1943 . Military career . Deatrick entered West Point in June 1943 and graduated in June 1946 . He entered the U . S . Army Air Corps following graduation from the United States Military Academy . Deatrick flew B - 25 s at Enid , Oklahoma then transitioned to the 307th Bomb Wing at MacDill AFB in Florida where he flew B - 29 s . From 1947 to 1948 , he served a tour with the 10th Air Rescue Squadron in Adak , Alaska where he flew B - 17 s , L - 5 s , and PBY s . The famous Norwegian Arctic explorer , Colonel Bernt Balchen , was his commanding officer . Flight test . In 1949 , he was assigned to the 3759th Electronics Test Squadron whose mission was the development of new radar bombing equipment . In 1950 the squadron moved to Eglin Air Force Base , Florida as the nucleus of the new Air Armament Center . Deatrick was assigned as the Bomber Engineering Test Pilot . In addition to bombers , he flew the T - 33 , P - 51 , and the F - 84 . In 1951 , Deatrick was a member of the first class to attend the newly formed Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base , California , and subsequently served five years in the Bomber Flight Test Division at Wright Patterson AFB , Ohio . During this tour of duty , he flew development tests on the B - 47 and B - 52 aircraft among many other programs . Deatrick also participated in nuclear weapons effect tests in these aircraft at the Pacific Proving Grounds in 1954 and 1956 . During Operation Castle , he flew a B - 47 to test thermal and overpressure effects of an atomic blast on aircraft in flight . A year later , in preparation for Operation Redwing , Deatrick received B - 52 instruction at Boeing Field near Seattle , Washington . In August 1955 , Col . Guy Townsend " signed off " Deatrick and qualified him to fly the Boeing bomber . B - 52B serial number 52 - 0004 , the first B model aircraft , was extensively instrumented to measure thermal , blast , and gust effects of a nuclear explosion . The aircraft was redesignated a JB - 52B and nicknamed by the crew , " The Tender Trap , " after the movie of the same name . In March 1956 , pilot Charles G . " Andy " Anderson and co - pilot Deatrick left Seattle for Eniwetok . They participated in eight " shots " including , " Cherokee " , the first airdrop of a thermonuclear bomb , and " Zuni " , the first test of a three - stage thermonuclear design . From 1956 to 1964 , Deatrick was assigned as executive officer to Major General Howell Estes , Jr . He followed Estes on many assignments throughout the world . In 1965 , he volunteered for Vietnam . Deatrick received indoctrination in the A - 1 Skyraider at Hurlburt Field , Florida , and graduated with class Express - 20 . Vietnam . In March 1966 , Deatrick assumed command of the 1st Air Commando Squadron ( ACS ) located at Pleiku , RVN . On his fourth flight ( an orientation mission ) , Deatrick was diverted into the A Shau Valley to help defend a Special Forces camp that was under attack . The next day , March 10 , 1966 , Bernie Fisher of the 1st ACS landed on the enemy - held runway and successfully rescued " Jump " Myers who had been shot down earlier that day . Fisher was later awarded the Medal of Honor for this rescue . While in Vietnam , Deatrick flew 402 combat missions in the A - 1E Skyraider . He was responsible for the rescue of Lt . Dieter Dengler , United States Navy , who had escaped from a prison camp after six months of captivity . Dengler later wrote about the miraculous circumstances of his July 20 , 1966 rescue : On November 10 , 1966 , Deatrick came to the aid of West Point classmate , Eleazar Parmly IV , commander of Task Force ( TF ) Prong when it was ambushed by NVA forces . TF Prong , consisting of three Montagnard companies supported by U . S . Special Forces advisors , was acting as a screen for elements of the U . S . 14th Infantry . TF Prong was scouting in the Plei Trap Valley near the Cambodia n border when it was attacked by the NVA Sixth Battalion . With the battle turning against him , Parmly radioed Captain Partridge , a Forward Air Controller working the area : To strengthen ties with the soldiers they protected , Deatrick encouraged his flyers to take troops on orientation flights above the battle fields . His pilots also worked on the ground directly with the soldiers to improve communications and select munitions best - suited for close air support missions . USAF Test Pilot School . Deatrick returned to the United States in early 1967 and was assigned as commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School , Edwards Air Force Base , California , from May 1967 to June 1968 . During a ceremony with Colonel Deatrick on July 11 , 1967 , the school received its first Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for " exceptionally meritorious service " during the period of February 1 , 1964 to February 1 , 1966 . During Deatrick ' s tenure at the school , students received the long - awaited Lockheed NF - 104A — a rocket - powered variant of the F - 104 intended to inexpensively train military space pilots . More than five years before , three F - 104s were extensively modified to the NF - 104A or Aerospace Trainer ( AST ) configuration that included the addition of a rocket engine and a reaction control system for flight in the upper atmosphere where the air is too thin for normal control surfaces to operate . Although the school managed the project , testing was performed not by the school ' s students , but by experienced test pilots from Lockheed and the Air Force Flight Test Center . Flight testing began in 1963 but was suspended when aircraft " 56 - 0762 " was destroyed on 10 December , seriously injuring the pilot . Safety modifications were made to the two remaining aircraft , and a restricted flight profile was defined that lowered the maximum altitude and decreased the climb angle . In spite of the precautions , a serious accident occurred on June 18 , 1965 when an instructor flying " 56 - 0756 " experienced a hydrogen peroxide fire from the reaction control system . A nitrogen purge system was added , and after additional test flights , the school ' s students were finally approved for training flights in May 1968 . Students who flew the NF - 104A while Deatrick commanded the school include Robert Lilac , Harry Blot , and Mike Loh . Student flights lasted only a few more years . Aircraft " 56 - 0756 " was scrapped after an inflight rocket motor explosion occurred in June 1971 and training was terminated in December of that year . As of 2011 , the surviving NF - 104 , " 56 - 0760 " , stands as a static model just outside the entrance of the USAF Test Pilot School . On May 27 , 1967 , Deatrick presented an address at Kutztown State College in Pennsylvania during the unveiling of the datestone of Deatrick Hall . The men ' s dormitory was named in honor of Deatrick ' s grandfather , William Wilberforce Deatrick , who was a professor at the college . In 1968 , Deatrick was selected to attend the National War College . Following his graduation in 1969 , he was assigned to the Joint Staff , Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Subsequently , in 1972 , he became the Director of Test , Air Force Systems Command , Andrews AFB , Maryland and retired from the United States Air Force in 1974 . Later years . In 1996 , Deatrick portrayed himself in " Little Dieter Needs to Fly " , the Werner Herzog documentary about the escape and rescue of Dieter Dengler . In 1997 , Deatrick was interviewed by the Air Force Historian , Dr . Richard P . Hallion , during the review of Operation TAILWIND . On March 9 , 1999 , on the thirty - third anniversary of the Battle of A Shau , Deatrick and other members of the 1st ACS gathered at a Pentagon ceremony to honor Bernie Fisher . In 2007 , he attended the premier of " Rescue Dawn " at Andrews AFB and spoke of his role in Dengler ' s rescue . Deatrick currently serves as an aerospace representative in the Washington , D . C . area for several companies . As of 2012 , he lives in Alexandria , Virginia and has two sons and two grandsons . Deatrick ' s wife of 55 years , Zane , died in January 2012 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Awards and honors . During his career , Deatrick flew more than 50 different types of aircraft and accumulated more than 12 , 000 hours of flying . He was awarded the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster , the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster , the Air Medal with 22 oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star for Valor . In 1969 , he earned a Masters Degree from George Washington University . Deatrick was one of the twelve founding members of the East Coast chapter of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots ( SETP ) in 1959 , and he served as symposium chairman for the sixth annual SETP conference in 1962 . Deatrick was made an Honorary Member of the Fighter Aces Association in 1968 . He served as President of the National Aviation Club for three years and is a member of the International Order of Characters , the Order of Daedalians , the Air Force Association , and the Quiet Birdmen . In 1995 , Deatrick and Dengler presented a lecture at the Estrella Warbird Museum describing Dengler ' s imprisonment and rescue . The lecture was well received and eventually recorded as part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force ’ s Guest Lecture Series . In January 1999 , he received the National Aeronautic Association ' s Cliff Henderson Award for Aviation Achievement . In 2000 , Deatrick was awarded membership in the Gathering of Eagles along with other noted aviators including Ollie Crawford , Duke Cunningham , Fitz Fulton , Michael Novosel , Günther Rall , Ed Rector , and Chuck Yeager . In 2001 , Deatrick was selected as the Distinguished Alumnus of the U . S . Air Force Test Pilot School and spoke at the graduation dinner banquet . In 2005 , he received the National Aeronautic Association ' s Wesley L . McDonald Elder Statesman of Aviation award for his service to the United States military , especially as one of its top test pilots . In 2006 , Deatrick was an invited panelist for the 38th National Conference on Aviation and Space Education ' s Hangar Talk tribute to the late Scott Crossfield . In 2007 , he was recognized as a " famous flyer " of the A - 1 Skyraider . At the 51st Symposium in Anaheim , California , Deatrick was interviewed as part of SETP ' s History Series documenting the flight test careers of noted test pilots .