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"An Unlikely Reunion - Reconciliation in Vietnam"
“On April 16, 1972, Dan Cherry first met Hong My at 15,000 feet in the skies near Hanoi, North Vietnam as enemies. In an intense 5 minute Aerial Battle, Major Dan Cherry shot down the Soviet-built MiG-21 piloted by the skilled Lieutenant Nguyen Hong My. Thirty-six years later Dan Cherry and Hong My met again in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on live television. It was the first time time they had met since that fateful day. This time they met as friends”. (From “An Unlikely Reunion – Reconciliation in Vietnam” by Dan Cherry and photographer John Fleck)
Schedule of Events:
| Evening Presentation |
AOPA Pavilion |
Wed., April 22 |
7:45 p.m. |
| Pavilion Presentation |
AOPA Pavilion |
Thu, April 23 |
TBD |
| Museum Presentation |
FL Air Museum |
Fri., April 24 |
12 - 2 p.m. |
| Flight Line Presentation |
Warbird Ramp |
Sat., April 25 |
11:00 a.m. |
| Book Signing |
Gifts of Flight |
TBD |
TBD |
| Book Signing |
PilotMall |
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TBD |
Schedule subject to change
Major Dan Cherry and Lieutenant Nguyen Hong My photographed during the Vietnam War, circa 1972.
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Photos following the reunion and press conference, April 2008
Following their reunion on National Vietnamese Television, Dan traveled with Hong My to his home in Hanoi, where the former enemies enjoyed a special dinner with the My family.
Hong My greets his grandson Duc who was celebrating his first birthday.
Dan and one-year old Duc.
Dan, now the president of Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky has written a book about his "dogfight" experience with Hong My in 1972 and their subsequent reunion in Vietnam in 2008. The book, "My Enemy, My Friend", will be available for purchase at Sun 'n Fun, and autograph sessions with Cherry and My are scheduled throughout the week.
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