Donn Fendler
Encyclopedia
Rye (city), New York
Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the town of Rye, which is larger than the city. Rye city, formerly the village of Rye, was part of the town until 1942, when it received its charter as a city, the most recent to be issued in New York...
, (born 1927) was separated from his family and became lost on Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
's Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine at . Named Katahdin by the Penobscot Indians, the term means "The Greatest Mountain". Katahdin is the centerpiece of Baxter State Park: a steep, tall mountain formed from underground magma. The flora and fauna on the mountain are typical of those...
. His disappearance launched a manhunt which became front page news throughout the nation, and involved hundreds of volunteers. Donn survived for 9 days without food, water or proper clothing, before following a stream and telephone line out of the woods near Stacyville, Maine
Stacyville, Maine
Stacyville is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 405 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.03% is water.-Demographics:...
. In September 1998, a map was published with the trail he'd followed. Fendler was dehydrated, covered with insect bites, and 16 pounds lighter than at the beginning of his odyssey, but otherwise unharmed. He credited his experience as a Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
in helping him survive by remembering that he should follow the stream downhill, by eating what he could find, and attempting to shield himself as best as possible during the frigid nights.
He became the subject of a book, Donn Fendler - Lost On A Mountain In Maine, by Joseph B. Egan, which has become a Maine children's classic
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
. Written from his perspective as a young boy, Donn tells his harrowing story from start to finish. He tells of experiencing hallucinations due to fatigue and hunger, as well as losing most of his clothing. After his rescue President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
presented him with the Army & Navy Legion of Valor's annual medal for outstanding youth hero of 1939. Donn was feted with a parade in his honor, and featured in an article in Life Magazine. Almost seventy years later, he's still called on to recount his story. On the seventieth anniversary of the event, Donn was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News
Bangor Daily News
The Bangor Daily News is an American newspaper that was founded on June 18, 1889; in 1900 the paper merged with the Bangor Whig and Courier. The Bangor Publishing Co. publishes the paper in Bangor, Maine, in addition to two weekly papers distributed by the BDN and several others distributed by the...
and said that he survived by not only by eating berries, but by his "never-give-up attitude," his faith in God and his prayers. Mothers from all over the United States sent prayers to his mother by Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
. "They did that in those days," he said. "I think it worked, because I am still standing here," he said.
Donn Fendler now lives in Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...
, but spends his summers in Newport, Maine. Each fall he visits schools in Maine to tell his story and answer children's questions about his experience on the mountain.