Charles Frederick Klusmann (September 7, 1933 – October 3, 2024) was an American military

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

combat pilot who was shot down over

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and later escaped captivity.

Military career

Shoot down, capture and escape

Klusmann was a navy

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

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

Plain of Jars The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫີນ ''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 June 6, 1964, flying an RF-8A Crusader aircraft from the VFP-63, . He was the first airman shot down and captured by the

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao (), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and political organization, organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group ultimately gained control over the entire country of ...

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

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

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. By September 4, he was flown to San Diego, California and reunited with his wife.

Awards and decorations

Klusmann's military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and

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, retirement and death

Klusmann retired from the U.S. Navy as a captain in 1980. A father of two children and a grandfather of three, he retired to Pensacola, where he had undergone flight training in the Navy, in 1956. He died on October 3, 2024, at the age of 91.

References

External links