AF Fighter Pilot Had Been Shot Down In 1965

Air Force fighter pilot Col. Fred V. Cherry, who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965, has Gone West at the age of 87. The African-American pilot spent seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

Col. Cherry passed away in a hospital in Washington, D.C. February 16 due to complications from a heart condition, according to his companion of 24 years, Deborah Thompson.

The Washington Post reports that, during his captivity, the North Vietnamese had tried to force Cherry to speak out against racial inequality in the United States by telling him he could improve his condition in the prison by doing so. But the beatings and other torture did not bring Cherry to speak out against his country. They later put him in a cell with a self-proclaimed "southern white boy" to try to weaken his resolve. Instead, Cherry and then-Navy Ensign Porter Halyburton became lifelong friends. Each credited the other with saving his life.

Cherry had been piloting an F-105 Thunderchief when he was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He ejected at 400 feet at over 600 miles per hour. He spent 702 days in solitary confinement, and was tortured or in punishment for 93 days in one stretch.

Cherry spent a total of 2,671 days in captivity before being released on February 12, 1973. He was among the first POWs to return home.

Among his citations was the Air Force Cross, awarded for “extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as a Prisoner of War . . . extremely strong personal fortitude and maximum persistence in the face of severe enemy harassment and torture, suffering critical injuries and wounds,” according to the citation.

(Image from file)

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