The German-American naval pilot Dieter Dengler was one of those immigrants to this country who embodied what some have termed “patriotic assimilation” — he became more American than the Americans. Born in the Black Forest, Dengler was a child when Allied bombers buzzed his family’s home at the height of World War II, inspiring in young Dieter a tantalizing dream of flight. But it was America that would ultimately give Dengler his wings, and which he would refuse to betray after being shot down over Laos in the early (i.e., unofficial) days of the Vietnam War. Instead, Dengler became the only American to successfully escape from a Laotian POW camp, and now... More >>>