Colonel Fred Vann Cherry, USAF (Ret) was born on 24 March 1928 and is a retired Colonel and Command Pilot in the U.S. Air Force. A career fighter pilot, he served in the Korean War, the Cold War and the Vietnam War.During a combat mission on October 22, 1965, Cherry's F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber was shot down over North Vietnam. Cherry ejected and was subsequently captured, the first and highest ranking black officer to become a prisoner of war during the conflict in Vietnam. Subjected to harsh interrogation and repeated torture, he spent over seven years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi until his release on February 12, 1973.After returning home, Cherry attended the National War College, and was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency, retiring from the Air Force with over 30 years of service on 1 September 1981. Following his retirement from active duty, President Ronald Reagan later commissioned Colonel Cherry to serve on the Korean War Veteran’s Memorial Advisory Board. Colonel Cherry's awards and decorations include the Air Force Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars with Combat V, two Purple Hearts, the Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, and two Presidential Unit Citations. Cherry also received the Award for Outstanding Service to the Military Community from the Tuskegee Airmen.Cherry’s life is the subject of the book, Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, by James S. Hirsch, author of Hurricane.Cherry was also featured in the documentary, Tom Hanks Presents: Return With Honor, the story of Vietnam fighter pilots held as prisoners of war. After retiring from the Air Force, Fred served as the Director of Technical Support Services for E.H. White & Co., and as Marketing Manager for Data Transformation Corp. Most recently, Cherry has served as Chief Executive Officer for Cherry Engineering and Support Services and Director of SilverStar Consulting.
Wrote a book titled "Two Souls Indivisible" detailing his captivity and close personal friendship with fellow Prisoner of War Porter Halyburton.
2
Fred Cherry graduated from Virginia Union University as a biology major in 1951. He entered the Air Force as an enlisted man, then was commissioned at Second Lieutenant in October of 1952 after he qualified as a pilot. He flew 52 combat missions in an F-84 during the Korean War. He flew 50 combat missions during the Vietnam War before he was shot down in an F-105D Thunderchief northeast of Hanoi on October 22, 1965, becoming the 43rd American and the first African American captured by the North Vietnamese. He was released from captivity on February 12, 1973, and retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in 1981.
$500,000
