Charles Klusmann | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Chuck |
| Born | 7 September 1933 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1953–1980 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen |
Charles Frederick Klusmann (born 7 September 1933) is a retired United States Navy combat pilot who was shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War and later escaped captivity.
Klusmann was a navy lieutenant (O-3) when he was shot down over the Plain of Jars, Laos ( 19°28′00″N103°15′00″E / 19.46667°N 103.25000°E ) on 6 June 1964, flying an RF-8A Crusader aircraft from the VFP-63, USS Kitty Hawk. [1] He was the first airman shot down and captured by the Pathet Lao and the first to escape three months later, on August 30. He was rescued two days later by CIA Officer Terrence Michael "Terry" Burke. [2] This is notable because the United States government never negotiated for the release of any prisoners held in Laos, and so, not one American held in Laos was ever released. [1]
Klusmann's military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and Prisoner of War Medal. [3]
His Distinguished Flying Cross citation reads: [4]
For extraordinary heroism and achievement while participating in aerial flight during May and June 1964. Lieutenant Klusmann, attached to and serving with Light Photographic Squadron SIXTY-THREE, Detachment C, aboard USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) has been engaged in unarmed reconnaissance flights over Laos in the Plaines des Jarres area. On 21 May 1964, his first flight into the area, his aircraft was struck by ground fire, and burned for a period of 20 minutes. Exercising superior airmanship, he was able to return safely to his ship. On 6 June 1964, on another low-level flight, his aircraft was shot down about 10 miles south of the Pathet Lao stronghold of Ban Ban on Route 7 east of the Plaines des Jarres at noon local time. Lieutenant Klusmann ejected from his aircraft and was observed on the ground. An attempt was made to rescue him by helicopter from a clearing, but as the helicopter approached the area Lieutenant Klusmann, exhibiting heroism of the highest order, waved it off. Almost immediately, he was observed to be surrounded by Pathet Lao troops. The rescue helicopter was subjected to ground fire and one of its occupants was wounded before it could depart the area. Subsequently, the Chinese Communist radio announced that the Pathet Lao had captured Lieutenant Klusmann. Lieutenant Klusmann's unswerving devotion to duty, professional skill, and courage were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Klusmann retired from the navy as a captain in 1980. A father of two children and a grandfather of three, he retired to Pensacola, where he went to flight school in 1996. [2]
The Pathet Lao, officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power in 1975, after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists and North Vietnam. During the civil war, it was effectively organized, equipped and even led by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). They fought against the anti-communist forces in the Vietnam War. Eventually, the term became the generic name for Laotian communists.
The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos which was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War, with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. It is called the Secret War among the American CIA Special Activities Center, and Hmong and Mien veterans of the conflict.
Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline established in 1946 and covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1950 to 1976. It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, including providing support for drug smuggling in Laos.
The Royal Lao Air Force, best known to the Americans by its English acronym RLAF, was the air force component of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR), the official military of the Royal Lao Government and the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1964.
Lieutenant Dieter Dengler was a German-born United States Navy aviator who was captured during the Vietnam War. After six months of imprisonment and torture, and 23 days on the run, he became only the second captured US airman to escape during the war. Of the seven prisoners of war who escaped together from the Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos, only he and Thai citizen Phisit Intharathat survived. After the war, he worked as a test pilot for private aircrafts and as a commercial airline pilot.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a 1997 German-British-French documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, and premiered on German television. The film follows the life of Dieter Dengler, in particular being shot down during the Vietnam War and his capture, imprisonment, escape, and rescue. Herzog went on to direct a dramatized version of the story, Rescue Dawn, which stars Christian Bale as Dengler in 2006.
The United States Air Force (USAF) deployed combat aircraft to Thailand from 1960 to 1975 during the Vietnam War. Today, US military units train with other Asian militaries in Thailand. Royal Thai Air Force Bases are an important element in the Pentagon's "forward positioning" strategy.
The Battle of Lima Site 85, also called Battle of Phou Pha Thi, was fought as part of a military campaign waged during the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Pathet Lao, against airmen of the United States Air Force (USAF)'s 1st Combat Evaluation Group, elements of the Royal Lao Army, Royal Thai Border Patrol Police, and the Central Intelligence Agency-led Hmong Clandestine Army. The battle was fought on Phou Pha Thi mountain in Houaphanh Province, Laos, on 10 March 1968, and derives its name from the mountaintop where it was fought or from the designation of a 700 feet (210 m) landing strip in the valley below, and was the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members during the Vietnam War.
Operation Barrel Roll was a covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the Kingdom of Laos between 14 December 1964 and 29 March 1973 concurrent with the Vietnam War. The operation resulted in 260 million bombs being dropped on Laos, making Laos "the most heavily bombed nation in history".
Eugene Henry DeBruin was a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant who disappeared after an escape attempt from a prison camp in Laos during the Vietnam War. In 1963, while working for Air America, DeBruin's C-46 was shot down and he was taken to a Pathet Lao prison camp. In 1966, he and six other prisoners, including Dieter Dengler and Phisit Intharathat, attempted to escape. DeBruin's date of death is disputed and he remains classified as missing in action.
Phisit Intharathat is a Thai citizen who was retrieved during the only successful prisoner of war rescue of the Vietnam War. After service as a commando in the Thai Border Patrol Police Parachute Aerial Resupply Unit, he went to work as a civilian with Air America during the Laotian Civil War; his job was to parachute pallets of food and supplies out of a cargo plane to aid the refugees.
Duane Whitney Martin was an American Air Force officer and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He was killed by locals two and a half weeks after he and Dieter Dengler escaped from a Pathet Lao prison camp.
CIA activities in Laos started in the 1950s. In 1959, U.S. Special Operations Forces began to train some Laotian soldiers in unconventional warfare techniques as early as the fall of 1959 under the code name "Erawan". Under this code name, General Vang Pao, who served the royal Lao family, recruited and trained his Hmong and Iu-Mien soldiers. The Hmong and Iu-Mien were targeted as allies after President John F. Kennedy, who refused to send more American soldiers to battle in Southeast Asia, took office. Instead, he called the CIA to use its tribal forces in Laos and "make every possible effort to launch guerrilla operations in North Vietnam with its Asian recruits." General Vang Pao then recruited and trained his Hmong soldiers to ally with the CIA and fight against North Vietnam. The CIA itself claims that the CIA air operations in Laos from 1955-1974 were the "largest paramilitary operations ever undertaken by the CIA."
Robert James Flynn was a Commander and Naval Flight Officer bombardier/navigator in the United States Navy. As a Lieutenant, he was captured by the Chinese in August 1967 after the A-6 Intruder he was flying in on a mission over North Vietnam was shot down. Flynn and his pilot, along with another A-6 Intruder crew, were evading North Vietnamese jets following their mission over Hanoi when they strayed over the border into Chinese air space. Downed just over the Chinese border, Flynn was apprehended by the Chinese and held in China as a Prisoner of War where he was tortured and held almost exclusively in solitary confinement for five and a half years.
Attack Squadron 145 (VA-145) was an aviation unit of the United States Navy, nicknamed the Rustlers from 1951-1954, and the Swordsmen thereafter. The squadron was established as Reserve squadron VA-702 on 1 December 1949, and called to active duty on 20 July 1950. It was redesignated VA-145 on 4 February 1953, and disestablished on 1 October 1993.
Jesse Junior Taylor was a United States Navy naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander during the Vietnam War. He also served as an enlisted man during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for actions 17 November 1965 over North Vietnam. He was the namesake of USS Taylor.
The raid onBan Naden of 9 January 1967 was the only successful rescue of prisoners of war during the Vietnam War, although no American prisoners were freed from the camp. The raid was improvised after local Central Intelligence Agency officers induced a Pathet Lao deserter to lead a rescue party back to the prison camp. At about 0400 hours on 9 January 1967, a raiding party of 10 Lao mercenaries led by Sergeant Te killed or dispersed the communist guard force, only to discover twice as many rescuees as they had counted upon. Some of the captives immediately returned to their local homes, while the others followed their rescuers to an impromptu pickup zone in the midst of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hastily summoned Air America helicopters retrieved the raiders and the remaining prisoners, one of whom was Phisit Intharathat.
Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War is a 2010 non-fiction book by author Bruce Henderson. Hero Found is a biography of Vietnam War hero Dieter Dengler, a German-born United States Navy naval aviator who endured six months of imprisonment and torture before being rescued. Dengler survived 23 days in the jungle after escaping from a Pathet Lao prison camp.
This article incorporates public domain material from Official Biography. United States Air Force.
