Staff Report
Mickey and Kathleen Hoffman of Villa Hills are devoted to efforts to honor our nation’s veterans, specifically motivated by the service of Kathleen’s father, the late Charles Lemmons who served in World War II.
The Hoffmans are hosting their fourth reunion on Saturday of the 16th Armored Division Association at the Holiday Inn Airport. The association started in the 1950s. Its reunions include veterans as well as wives, widows, children and grandchildren of veterans.
Mickey Hoffman said three veterans are coming to the banquet this year and two widows. The rest of the attendees are mostly surviving family members who are honoring their loved ones’ memories and service.
Lemmons passed away in 2001, but the Hoffmans have not forgotten the sacrifices he made — or the sacrifices of other veterans and their families.
Kathleen Hoffman says her father “always was and always will be a hero to me.” Mickey Hoffman, who was denied service after his physical, “is still waiting for a call” to join up, but though he didn’t get to serve himself, he can “serve those who did.”
The Hoffmans are also involved with Honor Flight.
But this weekend, their focus is on the reunion of the 16th Armored Division Association.
“It’s an opportunity to honor the heroes from WWII who liberated the Czech Republic, and also a chance to meet a living legend,” said Hoffman.
That would be Vietnam War veteran Dan Cherry who will be sharing his personal story.
Cherry, a retired Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force. The Bowling Green resident is author of a book published in 2009 – “My Enemy My Friend – a story of reconciliation from the Vietnam War” – chronicling his aerial dogfight with North Vietnamese MiG pilot, Nguyen Hong My.
Cherry, born just before the beginning of WWII, was an Air Force fighter pilot who flew combat missions 43 years ago over North Vietnam in the F-4 Phantom.
Now executive vice president of the Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, Cherry flew 295 combat missions during the Vietnam War and accumulated more than 4,000 hours of flying time while earning several military awards and decorations
He served in state government as Secretary of the Kentucky Justice Cabinet and was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000.
The highlight of Cherry’s career came in Thailand at the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base.
“I was motivated to do that, even though it was a very difficult decision for me and my family,” said Cherry. “I was also confident it was the right thing to do and it was my duty.”
On April 16, 1972, he was assigned as No. 3 in a flight of four F-4’s with the mission to hunt down and kill North Vietnamese MiG fighters before they could harm other American airmen or troops on the ground.
“I remember the day very clearly as we took off early in the morning from our base in Thailand and headed straight for Hanoi,” recalled Cherry of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron Panther Pack, call sign Basco. “As we crossed the border into North Vietnam our missile warning equipment lit up like a Christmas tree. As we continued our course for Hanoi we picked up four enemy MiG-21 aircraft on our airborne radar. We immediately turned to intercept them and after an intense dogfight, shot two of them down.”
Cherry found himself engaging with one of the four MiGs, flown by Hong My. He maneuvered and fired a radar-guided missile that impacted the MiG where the right wing joins the fuselage which blew the wing off. Seconds later the pilot ejected.
“As soon as I realized I had scored the victory, out pops the parachute,” Cherry recalled. “It was right in front of me and really in my face. I could easily see him in his black flying suit dangling from the parachute.”
A safe return from the mission was cause for celebration but Cherry still reflected on the identity and fate of the MiG pilot.
His friends suggested the notion of finding those answers 36 years later. In 2004, they visited the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and during the tour, the staff alerted them to an airplane not far from Dayton with historic significance to Kentucky.
“As the conversation continued, it became evident that it was none other than F-4D Phantom #550, the same airplane I was flying on that fateful day in 1972,” said Cherry.
However, they discovered the aircraft was in dire need of restoration.
“All the way home all we could talk about was what could we do to save this airplane,” said Cherry. “The more we talked and brainstormed this problem we discovered that Kentucky had an amazing aviation heritage, but many of the stories of our pioneer aviators had been lost in history. We felt if we could get and restore Phantom 550, it could be the cornerstone of an educational facility that would use aviation artifacts to tell real stories about real Kentucky aviators who have distinguished themselves in the field.”
They formed a non-profit group, received Air Force permission to move the airplane, raised the money through private donations, and in December 2005, the craft arrived in Bowling Green on two flatbed trailers.
After cleanup and restoration to its original colors, Phantom 550 was put on display in October 2008 at Aviation Heritage Park.
With encouragement from his friends, Cherry began an effort to find out about Hong My.
Through research and contact with the American embassy, Cherry connected with Thu Uyen Nguyen-Pham, the producer of a TV show in Vietnam called “The Separation Never Seems to Have Existed.”
The show reunites people who have been separated and videotapes the emotional reunion.
At the producer’s request, Cherry wrote a letter that detailed the dogfight. Two weeks later, she answered via email to inform him that the MiG pilot was found and invited Cherry to meet him in Vietnam on her show.
Cherry met Hong My on live TV in April 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
“I never really thought anything would come of that,” said Cherry. “He’s an interesting character (and) we have a lot in common. It’s been an amazing experience. Nothing would have happened had my friends not gone to Dayton.”
The following year, after forging a “strong friendship,” Cherry and Hong My visited Bowling Green on the 37th anniversary of the dogfight and 34 years after the Vietnam War ended.
“We had the grand opening of Aviation Heritage Park,” said Cherry, “and…a pilot who was shot down in air combat, returned to sit in the cockpit of the actual airplane that shot him down.”
They also visited Kentucky’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.
Saturday, Cherry will give his account of that April day 43 years ago and the events that led up to befriending Hong My and his family.
“I’m just honored to be a guest speaker for this organization and I look forward to being with them,” said Cherry. “It’s very important for me to support this organization. I hold the veterans in high esteem and I’m delighted to be a part of the reunion. This is somewhat of a war story, but more importantly, it is a story of forgiveness and friendship that hopefully can help other veterans as they try to bring closure to their war experiences.”
Proceeds of Cherry’s book sales are donated to the Aviation Heritage Park.
For more information about Saturday’s banquet, or to purchase tickets, contact Mickey Hoffman at (859) 468-8119, or home at (859) 341-4199.
Freelancer Nick Gonnella and Editor Judy Clabes contributed to this story.
Freelancer Nick Gonnella did an outstanding job in this story of building a foundation of reconciliation. He began with the memories of Charles Lemmons, WWII, transitioning into the story of Dan Cherry during the Viet Nam era. After reading the article, I wondered how Dan Cherry could ever reconcile with “the enemy” and a song floated through my mind. The apex of this article is summed up in the first line of the song “Let There Be Peace On Earth” written in 1955 (between those two wars!) which says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” I salute Dan Cherry!