Background
Cherry was born in Suffolk, Virginia into a poor farming family.
Cherry was born in Suffolk, Virginia into a poor farming family.
He attended racially segregated public schools there. In 1951, Cherry graduated from Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.
A career fighter pilot, he served in the Korean War, the Cold War and the
On June 29, 1951,after his high school graduation, Cherry enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Training Program of the United States. 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.
After his time in of Korea, Cherry undertook a variety of flying and instructional assignments in Europe and the United States.
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 United States. Prisoners of War during the 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 or placed in punishment for 93 days in a row.
Cherry"s jailers placed United States 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 very good friends. After seven years as a prisoner of war, Cherry was released from captivity on February 12, 1973
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. In 1982, the United States Court of Claims found the Air Force negligent in handling Cherry"s military pay and awarded him $38,449 in compensation.
Cherry was also featured in the documentary, Tom Hanks Presents: Return With Honor, the story of Vietnam fighter pilots held as prisoners of war. Following his retirement from active duty, President Ronald Reagan commissioned Cherry to serve on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board.
Cherry also served as the Director of Technical Support Services for East.H. White & Company, and as Marketing Manager for Data Transformation Corporation
Most recently, Cherry has served as Chief Executive Officer for Cherry Engineering and Support Services and Director of SilverStar Consulting. Cherry died of cardiac disease on February 16, 2016 at a hospital in Washington, District of Columbia.