Charles Frederick Klusmann (born 7 September 1933) is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

combat pilot who was shot down over

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and later escaped captivity.

Military career

Shootdown, capture and escape

He was a navy

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

(O-3) when he was shot down over the

Plain of Jars The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫິນ ''Thong Hai Hin'', ) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of ...

() on 6 June 1964 flying an RF-8A Crusader aircraft from the

VFP-63 VFP-63 was a Light Photographic Squadron of the U.S. Navy. Originally established as Composite Squadron Sixty-One (VC-61) on 20 January 1949, it was redesignated as Fighter Photographic Squadron (VFP-61) on 2 July 1956. Redesignated as Composite P ...

, . He was the first airman shot down and captured by the

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao ( lo, ປະເທດລາວ, translit=Pa thēt Lāo, translation=Lao Nation), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The gro ...

and the first to escape three months later on August 30, "First in, first out". He was rescued two days later by

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

Officer Terrence Michael "Terry" Burke. 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.

Awards and decorations

Klusmann's military awards and decorations include: Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon

- Distinguished Flying Cross
Prisoner of War Medal ribbon

Prisoner of War Medal The Prisoner of War Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 8 November 1985. The United States Code citation for the POW Medal statute is . The ...

His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:

Personal life and retirement

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.

References

External links