POW’s get new honor aboard USS Turner Joy (William J. Metzger)

Tayden and Crixus Dengler never met their legendary grandfather, a Navy pilot captured as a prisoner of war in Laos who escaped his captors. But at a ceremony aboard the USS Turner Joy on Monday, the children witnessed firsthand Dieter Dengler’s lasting legacy.

Dengler’s name was added, along with four other men, to a permanent exhibit onboard the Bremerton museum ship dedicated to more than 700 POWs of the Vietnam era. It’s the first time any of the service members captured in Laos have been added.

“It’s nice to have these moments that they can be a part of,” said the children’s mother, Jennifer.

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

A heroic connection (Charlie James)

It took her 44 years, but Morreen O’Reilly-Mersberger finally tracked down the prisoner of war whose name was on a bracelet that she purchased in college and kept to this day. The 62-year-old Plymouth resident bought the item for $2 in the fall of 1970 from a student group on

Vietnam POW outraged over flag removal at tavern (Samuel Vaughan)

The Summerville man is modest, even while pointing at a display box of medals he’s earned through blood and sweat. Samuel Vaughan spent 16 months imprisoned at Hanoi in Vietnam. He was captured on April 18, 1971, only three months after arriving in Vietnam as a fighter pilot for the

A former prisoner of war testifying today accused Marine… (Gustav A. Mehrer)

Veteran’s Day: The cost of freedom (Robert Hudson)

When the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center held the sixth Annual POW/MIA Run in September to honor all current and former prisoners of war and Americans still listed as missing in action, the big story that particular day was the run. However, the real story to remember from

Richard Bates, POW

On this date in 1973, the Viet Cong released First Lieutenant Richard Bates of the U.S. Air Force. While flying a mission nearly 6 months before, he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. Bates was from Plaza, ND, and was 24 when he was captured.