Never Ever Ever Give Up No Matter What!

 

Never Ever Ever Give Up No Matter What!

 

I'm going to use this story to explain why motivation, ambition, and sheer unstoppability are such important aspects of success.

He resisted signing documents denouncing American intervention in Southeast Asia offered to him by the North Vietnamese after his crash and incarceration as a prisoner of war in the steamy jungles of Vietnam for months.

During these times, he was inspired by the memory of his grandfather, who, amid threats of execution, had been the only person in their village powerful enough not to vote for Hitler during elections.

He had marveled at the US enemy planes as a kid in Germany, and vowed to one day fly for the United States of America.

His father had died in the war, and his mother was in dire straits. After WWII, people in Germany were starving to death.

He became used to surviving on garbage.

He had made it through the ordeal.

In these circumstances, he traded scrap metal for money and hitchhiked to Hamburg in order to get to America. He remained on the streets of Manhattan after arriving in the United States.

He trained for years, often living in an upside-down cruise, and eventually became a US Navy pilot, but...

On his first mission over Vietnam, he was shot down.

He was eventually apprehended by enemy troops; he attempted to flee but was recaptured. He banded together with the other prisoners and devised an escape scheme. There was no time to waste as the prisoners learned that their captors were going to kill them.

They were able to flee and defeat their guards. Then came leeches, hunger, hazard, and misery. He never lost faith.

He and another man believed they'd been spotted by US planes and that rescue was on the way, but it wasn't. They persisted in their efforts to reach Thailand. Villagers assassinated his neighbor.

He continued to eat snakes alone, still on the verge of starvation.

He was rescued by a US helicopter after 23 days of surviving in the jungle, sick and wounded but avoiding capture.

He'd been hiding behind enemy lines for over a year.

I recommend printing this out or saving it to your phone so you can refer to it anytime you feel like giving up.

Dieter Dengler did not give up, and you will not either.

#successwithdrjerrythefirst