Eugene DeBruin
Eugene Henry DeBruin (April 1, 1933 – c. 1968) was a former 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.
Eugene DeBruin | |
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Born | Eugene Henry DeBruin April 1, 1933 Kaukauna, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Disappeared | June 29, 1966 (aged 33) Near Hoi Het, Laos |
Status | Missing in action |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Air Force |
Service years | 1952–1956 |
Rank | Staff sergeant, USAF U.S. Civilian, Air America |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War Laotian Civil War |
In 2017, his name, alongside fellow prisoners Dengler and Duane W. Martin, and two others, was added to a permanent exhibit on the USS Turner Joy, now housed in a Bremerton, Washington museum. His name also appears on a brick in the Veterans Memorial Park's Ring of Honor in his hometown of Kaukauna, Wisconsin.