Eugene Peyton Deatrick

American test pilot (1924–2020)

Eugene Peyton Deatrick Jr. (November 17, 1924 – December 30, 2020) was a United States Air Force colonel, test pilot, and combat veteran. He is best recognized for his role in the rescue of United States Navy Lieutenant Dieter Dengler during the Vietnam War. The rescue was recounted in the Werner Herzog films Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Rescue Dawn and the national bestseller Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War by author Bruce Henderson.

Eugene P. Deatrick Jr. was born November 17, 1924, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only child of Dr. Lily Bell Sefton Deatrick and Dr. Eugene P. Deatrick, Sr. He grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia where his mother was a professor of Chemistry and his father a professor of Agriculture at West Virginia University. Deatrick graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D. C. in 1942. During his first year of college at West Virginia University, Deatrick enlisted in the Air Corps Reserve. He was nominated to the United States Military Academy by Senator Jennings Randolph in 1943.

Deatrick arrived at West Point on July 1, 1943 and began six weeks of military training known as Beast Barracks due to the verbal abuse and hazing delivered by upper classmen to toughen the cadets. Cadets were grouped according to height, and the six foot tall Deatrick was assigned to Company C, 1st Regiment known as "C1". Deatrick's interest in aviation was piqued during his freshman or "plebe" year when an AT 6 aircraft simulated a strafing attack on his group that was on field maneuvers sending them into the bushes to escape. As he watched the pilot wave, Deatrick decided he would apply for flight training when the opportunity arrived. A wartime change allowed cadets in their second year (known as "yearlings") to apply to become air cadets who upon graduation would receive both a commission and wings. Deatrick was accepted into the program and received basic flight training in 1945. On June 1, 1946, the air cadets received their wings from the commanding general of the Army Air Forces, Carl Spaatz. Deatrick graduated from USMA on June 4, 1946 with a merit ranking of 252 out of the 875 members of his class.

Deatrick entered the U. S. Army Air Corps following graduation from the United States Military Academy. Deatrick flew B 25s at Enid, Oklahoma then transitioned to the 307th Bomb Wing at MacDill AFB in Florida where he flew B 29s. From 1947 to 1948, he served a tour with the 10th Air Rescue Squadron in Adak, Alaska where he flew B 17s, L 5s, and PBYs. to attend the newly formed Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and subsequently served five years in the Bomber Flight Test Division at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. During this tour of duty, he flew development tests on the B 47 and B 52 aircraft among many other programs. From 1956 to 1964, Deatrick was assigned as executive officer to Major General Howell Estes Jr. He followed Estes on many assignments throughout the world. In 1965, he volunteered for Vietnam. Deatrick received indoctrination in the A 1 Skyraider at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and graduated with class Express 20.