Eugene DeBruin

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Eugene DeBruin
April 1, 1933 (1933-04-01) (age 75)
Image:Eugene DeBruin.jpg
Official picture of Eugene DeBruin
Place of birth Kaukauna, Wisconsin
Allegiance United States of America Flag of the United States
Service/branch United States Air Force
Years of service 1952-1956
Rank Staff Sergeant, USAF
U.S. Civilian, Air America
Battles/wars Second Indochina War
Laotian Civil War

Eugene Henry DeBruin (April 1, 1933 - ?) was a former US Air Force Staff Sergeant, and a member of Air America during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other prisoners attempted to escape. After this, there is little known about DeBruin's whereabouts.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and Military life

Eugene DeBruin is the second eldest of ten children that grew up in a Wisconsin farm. While growing up, DeBruin became interested in outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, skiing, and others.

After graduating from high school, DeBruin joined the US Air Force in 1952. He served four years, mostly in Japan, as an aircraft mechanic reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant. During that time, he also obtained a private pilot license. He also practiced judo during his time in Japan.

After being discharged from the Air Force, DeBruin enrolled at the University of Montana at Missoula, Montana obtaining a degree in forestry. He then worked as a "Smokejumper" for three years in Alaska. DeBruin then moved to Mexico to learn Spanish with the intent of becoming a writer.

After declining to join the Peace Corps, DeBruin volunteered as a "kicker" with Air America. His job was to kick the pallets of rice and food down the plane to aid the refugees. According to his brother, he had plans of joining the Peace Corps after he finished his stint with Air America.

[edit] Capture and First Escape Attempt

On September 5, 1963, DeBruin took off on a mission with fellow Americans, Joseph C. Cheney and Charles Herrick, Thai Pisidhi Indradat, Prasit Promsuwan and Prasit Thanee, and Chinese Y.C. To. During a flight over Laos, his C-46 aircraft was hit by ground fire and crashed about 2 kilometers from Tchepone on the Savannakhet Province. DeBruin, Y.C. To, and the three Thai nationals parachuted to safety, but were immediately captured by the Pathet Lao. Cheney and Herrick were killed in the crash.

After his capture, DeBruin was moved to four different prisons, together with the other four prisoners. In May 1964, they managed to escape for three days, but were caught at a watering hole.

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[edit] Second Escape Attempt

After that failed attempt, DeBruin attempted a second escape. The seven prisoners that worked together for this second attempt were:

Dengler was the last to arrive at the POW camp, and initially, distrusted by the other prisoners as they thought he might be an informants.[2] Eventually the prisoners advised Dengler of their past escape attempts.[2]

On June 29, 1966, while the guards were eating, the group slipped out of their hand and foot restraints and grabbed the guard's unattended submachine guns. The Pathet Lao guards spotted some of the other prisoners trying to escape. A shootout between the two sides ensued and Dengler and Indradat ended up killing five guards so the others could escape. Two others ran off, presumably to get help. The seven prisoners split into three groups. Indradat, and the other Thai prisoners; DeBruin stayed with To, who had been too ill to continue with the escape; and Dengler and Martin headed for the Mekong River to escape to Thailand. Martin was believed to have been killed, while Dengler was rescued after 23 days in the jungle. Indradat was also rescued later.

[edit] Later life

Of the seven prisoners that attempted to escape, only two reached safety (Dengler and Indradat). One report stated that DeBruin was killed in the escape attempt, but Indradat originally reported that he last saw DeBruin attempting to "reach high ground in a classified location".

DeBruin's family has found reports that confirm that he was alive as late as January 1968. First, US Intelligence confirmed that DeBruin was recaptured and returned to the Muong Phine prison in late June 1966. According to intelligence reports, he was later moved to a POW camp at Muong Nong with 8 other American POWs. According to reports, in January 1968, DeBruin and the other Americans were moved out of the complex by the North Vietnamese Army. Their destination was never known.

DeBruin's brother, Jerome DeBruin, traveled to Laos in 1972 in search of information. Although the Pathet Lao openly admitted holding American prisoners of war, they insisted that the United States negotiate directly with them to ensure their release, but this never happened. Since the end of the Vietnam War, live reports have continued to surface indicating Gene DeBruin remained alive well into the early 1990s.

[edit] Eugene DeBruin in film

Eugene DeBruin was portrayed by Jeremy Davies in Werner Herzog's 2006 film Rescue Dawn. The film focuses mostly on Dieter Dengler's life as told to Herzog by Dengler himself, but has been severely criticised by members of the family of DeBruin, Dengler, and Pisidhi Indradat, the other survivor of the group, for portraying DeBruin as a selfish and unstable prisoner who threatened to betray his fellow prisoners at any time, and who, at the time of their escape, did not know what to do.[3]

Herzog acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained, but Herzog was unaware of this fact until after the film had been completed. Herzog states that this narrative aspect probably would have been included had he learned it earlier.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

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