General Dan Cherry (USAF Retired) talked to us Wednesday June 4 about the beginnings of the Air Heritage Museum he and a group of fellow Rotarians have been working on here in Bowling Green. They started four years ago by locating his old Phantom Jet in Ohio. The small town that owned it was prepared to see it leave. With local support the jet was brought back to B.G. and made to look beautiful taking on its war time camouflage paint scheme. The museum is building a beautiful outdoor display of military aircraft at the Basil Griffin Park on Three Spirngs Road. Phantom 550 is parked there now. The museum will be a tribute to several aviation pioneers and heroes from this area. In connection with the museum and through many convaluted steps Dan was invited to return Vietnam to meet on National Television the North Vietnamese pilot he had shot down in the war. The biggest show on Vietnam TV is similar to our old This is Your Life program here. The producer is U.S. educated and was able to find the 62 year old pilot Dan shot down 38 years ago. Dan had a Power Point presentation that documented their meeting. He said he had many misgivings about the whole deal but spoke with Vietnam Veteran groups here and the U.S. Embassy before making the decision to go. It was the biggest thing in Vietnam the week he was there. The show is the number one show on TV. I don't have a photo of the reunion but will try to get one and put it on our blog. The reunion was terrific and Dan found the man to be a true gentleman. We were all enthralled to hear about the emotional reunion. We heard about Dan's gift of Maker's Mark, the pilot's invitation for Dan and his entourage to come to his house in Hanoi for dinner, Dan's being there for the grandson's first birthday celebration, and the guided tour of Hanoi by the pilot including the Hanoi Hilton. The museum hopes to bring the pilot to Bowling Green and members of our club were begging Dan to be certain to bring him to Rotary for all of us to meet him. Listen, when you miss programs this good you've missed a lot.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Dan Cherry Talks About Recent Vietnam Trip
General Dan Cherry (USAF Retired) talked to us Wednesday June 4 about the beginnings of the Air Heritage Museum he and a group of fellow Rotarians have been working on here in Bowling Green. They started four years ago by locating his old Phantom Jet in Ohio. The small town that owned it was prepared to see it leave. With local support the jet was brought back to B.G. and made to look beautiful taking on its war time camouflage paint scheme. The museum is building a beautiful outdoor display of military aircraft at the Basil Griffin Park on Three Spirngs Road. Phantom 550 is parked there now. The museum will be a tribute to several aviation pioneers and heroes from this area. In connection with the museum and through many convaluted steps Dan was invited to return Vietnam to meet on National Television the North Vietnamese pilot he had shot down in the war. The biggest show on Vietnam TV is similar to our old This is Your Life program here. The producer is U.S. educated and was able to find the 62 year old pilot Dan shot down 38 years ago. Dan had a Power Point presentation that documented their meeting. He said he had many misgivings about the whole deal but spoke with Vietnam Veteran groups here and the U.S. Embassy before making the decision to go. It was the biggest thing in Vietnam the week he was there. The show is the number one show on TV. I don't have a photo of the reunion but will try to get one and put it on our blog. The reunion was terrific and Dan found the man to be a true gentleman. We were all enthralled to hear about the emotional reunion. We heard about Dan's gift of Maker's Mark, the pilot's invitation for Dan and his entourage to come to his house in Hanoi for dinner, Dan's being there for the grandson's first birthday celebration, and the guided tour of Hanoi by the pilot including the Hanoi Hilton. The museum hopes to bring the pilot to Bowling Green and members of our club were begging Dan to be certain to bring him to Rotary for all of us to meet him. Listen, when you miss programs this good you've missed a lot.
