Eugene DeBruin

Eugene DeBruin was portrayed by Jeremy Davies in Werner Herzog's 2007 film Rescue Dawn. The film focuses mostly on Dieter Dengler's life as told to Herzog by Dengler himself, but has been severely criticized by members of the family of DeBruin and Indradat, the other survivor of the group, for portraying DeBruin as a selfish and unstable prisoner who threatened to betray his fellow prisoners at any time, and who, at the time of their escape, did not know what to do.

DeBruin's brother, Jerome DeBruin, traveled to Laos in 1972 in search of information. Although the Pathet Lao admitted holding American prisoners of war, they insisted that the United States negotiate directly with them to ensure their release, but this never happened.

In March 1971, the Central Intelligence Agency had reconnaissance Team Papaya/305 operating in the area of DeBruin's capture. Tasked with gathering military intelligence concerning DeBruin, it returned a report that the CIA's case handler thought truthful:

On June 29, 1966, while the guards were eating, the group slipped out of their hand and foot restraints and grabbed the guards' unattended submachine guns. The Pathet Lao guards spotted some of the other prisoners trying to escape. A shootout between the two sides ensued and Dengler and Indradat ended up killing five guards so the others could escape. Two others ran off, presumably to get help. The seven prisoners split into three groups: Indradat, and the other Thai prisoners; DeBruin stayed with To, who had been too ill to continue with the escape; and Dengler and Martin headed for the Mekong River to escape to Thailand. Martin was killed by a Laotian villager, while Dengler was rescued after 23 days in the jungle. Indradat was also rescued later.

After his capture, DeBruin was moved to four different prisons, together with the other four prisoners. In May 1964, they managed to escape for three days, but were caught at a watering hole.

On September 5, 1963, during one of his flights over Laos, DeBruin's C-46 cargo airliner was shot down by ground fire. He took off on a mission with fellow Americans, Joseph C. Cheney II and Charles G. Herrick, Thai Pisidhi Indradat, Prasit Promsuwan and Prasit Thanee, and Chinese To Yick Chiu. He crashed about 2 kilometers from Tchepone in Savannakhet Province. DeBruin, To, and the three Thai nationals parachuted to safety, but were immediately captured by the Pathet Lao. Cheney and Herrick were killed in the crash.

After graduating from high school, DeBruin joined the U.S. Air Force in 1952. He served four years, mostly in Japan, as an aircraft mechanic reaching the rank of Staff sergeant. During that time, he also obtained a private pilot license. He practiced judo during his time in Japan.

Eugene Henry DeBruin (April 1, 1933 – c. 1968) was a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other prisoners attempted to escape. After this, there is little known about DeBruin's whereabouts.

Eugene DeBruin was born April 1, 1933, in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. He was the second eldest of ten children that grew up in a Wisconsin farm. While growing up, DeBruin became interested in outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and skiing.