“Many could argue – and did – that Mike Deuel and the others who died in Laos died for naught, that their efforts failed to sway events. But tough the mission ultimately failed, their grit is still quietly celebrated at Langley by the aging few who knew them, particularly those from the agency class of 1961. They remember Deuel not as a casualty of war, but the standard-bearer of their class and generation.”
The Book of Honor
Ted Gup
October 12, 2026 — On October 12, 1965, an Air America Sikorsky UH-34 helicopter crashed during takeoff from a pad near Saravane (now Salavan), Laos, resulting in the deaths of the pilot, Capt. Richard H. Liebert, the co-pilot, Franklin D. Smith, and CIA officers Mike Deuel and Michael A. Maloney. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
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