Fred V. Cherry
Fred V. Cherry was born in Suffolk, Virginia, United States on March 24th, 1928 and is the Aircraft Pilot. At the age of 87, Fred V. Cherry biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 87 years old, Fred V. Cherry physical status not available right now. We will update Fred V. Cherry's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
On June 29, 1951, after his college graduation, Cherry enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Training Program of the U.S. Air Force, and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was awarded his pilot wings at Webb Air Force Base in Texas on October 25, 1952.
Cherry was soon serving in the Korean War, where he flew F-84 Thunderjets on more than 100 combat missions, with the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing, which was stationed at Taegu Air Base in South Korea
During a combat mission on October 22, 1965, Cherry's F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber was shot down over North Vietnam. Cherry ejected and landed with a broken ankle and wrist, and a crushed shoulder. He was immediately captured by North Vietnamese militia.
Cherry was the first and highest ranking Black officer among American prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. According to Cherry, his North Vietnamese captors wanted him to make public statements about racial intolerance in the United States, but he refused. As a result, Cherry spent 702 days in solitary confinement and was tortured for 93 days in a row. Cherry's jailers placed U.S. Navy pilot Ensign Porter Halyburton, a Southern white man, in Cherry's cell in the hopes that the two men would become antagonists. Instead, the two pilots helped each other to survive confinement and became close friends. After seven years as a prisoner of war, Cherry was released from captivity on February 12, 1973. Cherry told the story of his POW experience to Wallace Terry.
After returning home, Cherry discovered that his wife, Shirley Brown, had taken all of his life savings after the Air Force declared him missing in action and started dating another man. Cherry started legal proceedings with the Air Force to have back salary and other payments returned to him.
After Vietnam, Cherry attended the National War College and was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired from the Air Force with over 30 years of service on 1 September 1981.