Posted on 02/20/2016 7:27:24 PM PST by Fred Hayek
Fred V. Cherry, an Air Force fighter pilot, was downed by enemy fire over North Vietnam in 1965, and he spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Shame to hear that. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe he was on stage with Trump at a rally last summer.
Godspeed and thank you.
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One of the most reliably conservative members of Congress, Sam Johnson, has drawn 3 primary opponents as the area has become overrun with yankees and Californians.
God Speed
Bingo!
RIP.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. — Matthew 25:23The only POW that I ever saw in person was Lieutenant General John P. Flynn in a chapel program in US Air Force Basic Training in 1975. It was a very moving and inspiring message for a two winger pinger.
Here is an interesting anecdote about both of these fine Americans.
Post by ELB » Fri Apr 09, 2010 8:37 am
The US Air Forces' only (that I know of) battlefield commissions were given permanent effect on this date in 1973. Former Vietnam POWs Colonels John P. Flynn and Fred V. Cherry administered the oath of office to former POWs Airman Arthur Neil Black, Staff Sergeant Arthur Cormier, and Staff Sergeant William A. Robinson (grades as of time of capture), making them lieutenants in the United States Air Force.All three were Air Force pararescue airmen who were in helicopters shot down in 1965 while on missions to retrieve pilots who had already been shot down. They were the only enlisted men in the 4th Allied POW Wing in the prisons of Hanoi, North Vietnam. They were housed with, dressed like, and tortured like the officers. Although initially many POWs were held in solitary, eventually most were moved to cells containing several prisoners each. Because of their steadfastness to duty despite conditions, the Air Force and Navy officers in the cell with Black, Cormier, and Robinson decided that the three airmen should be commissioned. Over time, using small holes drilled through walls and toilet paper messages glued to thrown rocks, the officers received permission from the Senior Ranking Officer, a captain, at their current prison camp, and administered the oath in 1969. An"in cell Officer Candidate School" was established, and the new battlefield lieutenants were taught various subjects by both Air Force and Navy officers.
After the US raided Son Tay prison camp (an attempt to free the POWs there; unfortunately, by chance the communists moved the prisoners just before the raid), the POWs were grouped into larger camps in the Hanoi area. This brought the new lieutenants and their course instructors into the same area as the 4th Allied POW Wing commander, Col Flynn, although the senior officers were housed in a separate section. Another couple of rock/toilet paper airmails and Col Flynn gave his enthusiastic permission, also making it his personal mission to get the Air Force to recognize the battlefield commissions once the POWs were released.
When the POWs came home in 1973, now-General Flynn, and former fellow POW Admiral James B. Stockdale, wrote a document explaining the battlefield commissioning process used and began the push to get the official recognition of the commissions. At first, the Air Force hierarchy was resistant, as it had no institutional precedent or regulation for battlefield commissions. Then Admiral Stockdale began talking with the Navy, which apparently prompted the Air Force to get off the dime and figure out a way to make it happen. The request then went to the SecDef, who approved and sent it to the White House. President Nixon is reported to have replied, "Heck yes! " Only he didn't say "heck."
On 9 April 1973, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, Black, Cormier, and Robinson were commissioned as lieutenants. It is a little hard to make the various histories on the internet jibe, but it appears that at least one of them may have been commissioned directly as a First Lieutenant. All three continued their Air Force careers, retired, and as far as I can tell are still living. William Robinson, Captain, USAF (Ret), holds the distinction of being the longest held enlisted POW in US History.
elb
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"The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected to service in a militia, … " D.C v. Heller, Majority Opinion. "Surely it protects a right that can be enforced by individuals" D.C. v Heller, Dissenting Opinion.
Good stuff, thanks FRiend!
Thank you for the book reference. I am thankful to hear that Branson welomes the veterans. My father strongly encouraged me when I was 15 to read a book by Admiral Jeremiah Denton, a book which cemented my patriotism.
RIP and thank you for your service.
See the Roll Call of Heroes re US POWS during the VN war.
I knew several of them, including the late Don Rander and Jon R. Cavaiani (who died within the last year). Jon was the terror of the VC, who had reportedly killed his adopted Vietnamese son, and suffered his revenge for it.
His story, and that of some other POWS can be found in “The Soldiers’ Story: Vietnam in their words”, Ron Steinman, Barnes & Nobles Book, NY, 1999,2000. Included in the book are Cavaiani, Fred Cherry, Paul Galanti, and John McCain.
Another Special Forces member I knew, the late Major Nick Rowe (”Five Years to Freedom”), was assassinated in the Philippines many years ago by the Communist NPA. His book is a fascinating look into how a man, as a POW of the VC< had the will to live when others around him were executed or just gave up and died.
Another unwritten book (but many articles about and by him) would be that of Mike Benge, a former Marine who served many years in Vietnam’s Central Highlands helping the indigenous tribal peoples there, as the head of the AID (Agency for International Development) resettlement and reforestation programs until captured during Tet while making sure that all his employees had gotten to safety.
What he endured/suffered for at least a year in a real “tiger cage” (not Don Luce’s Con Son Island Hoax cages), and on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, before arriving at the Hanoi Hilton, should be made into a movie all by itself.
He saw the VC/NVA kill fellow prisoners (So. Vietnamese and foreign medical help, if only by starving them to death or not giving them any medical help.
Mike made life very uncomfortable for his NVA guards, esp. at the time of the Christmas 1972 bombings, and later he made life very uncomfortable for Hanoi Jane.
Also there were American civilian POWS, including Mike’s cellmate Larry Stark, who had to pull Mike away from their cell’s window during the 72 Xmas bombing. Mike, just being a continual pain in the ass to his captors, yelled at his guards (in good Vietnamese) that they were all going to die, but he was dangerously ignoring flying wood and metal fragments coming his way from the NVA barracks nearby that were being reduced into toothpicks.
Fortunately Mike and Larry escaped unhurt, and came back to America to continue on their war against the communists, their collaborators like Jane Fonda, and to advocate for the known POWS and the MIAS who were never released, or were murdered including Ron Dodge and Hrdlicka, among others.
We owe these men (and there were some American women who were temporarily captured), our gratitude and respect, forever.
from an Old Bao Chi, VN/Cambodia, 1970.
Thank you for that information. I’m going to read it.
Just did a search about Col. Cherry. His wife wiped out all 7 years of his pay and savings and left him while he was captive. Can’t imagine what he went through. Being a POW, finally being released and then to come home to that. He was a warrior. God bless his soul and as he walks with the angels now.
Thank you for sharing that story.
Sad to hear it. It’s more sad that his dad was not the Navy commander of the South Pacific and his son basked in the fake misconception that he was an amazing war hero and is cherished by the GOPe.
This is a sad story of an individual of PRIVILEGE and one who was not. One was a coward and one was not.
I guess we know who the real hero is, for he passed away today.
Godspeed and RIP.
Spot on. I live near Baltimore now, but was raised in Alabama. The sense of entitlement and racism of the blacks up here is a far cry from those in the South. It’s as if those in the South have moved on past slavery while the Northern blacks are still on government plantations.
Condolences to family and friends of Fred Cherry. Thank you, sir. R.I.P.
love
Just sayin'....
And no,I'm *not* a fan of McLame
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