The B-17D Flying Fortress is exactly like the one Capt. Cherry piloted.
Maj. William Terrell Cherry, 1915 - 2000. Courtesy Photos
Known as America’s greatest ace of World War I, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker (1890-1973) had 26 confirmed kills and earned seven Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Medal of Honor.
Appearing in the Nov. 19, 1942, edition of the Wellington Leader, Floyd Killough notes a couple of errors. He wasn’t a Jr., and his father wasn’t a Sr. William Thomas Cherry was William Terrell Cherry’s father. Courtesy Image of Wellington Leader Archives
Cherry recovers in the makeshift hospital on Funafuti.
A scene from the 1945 movie, “Captain Eddie,” starring Fred MacMurray, Richard Crane played the role of Bill Cherry.
Capt. William Terrell Cherry became an American Airlines pilot. Born Sept. 6, 1915, in Quail, located in Collingsworth County, Cherry died Sept. 2, 2000, in Los Angeles County, Calif. His family had him cremated and his ashes scattered over Funafuti Island in the South Pacific.
This Nov. 11 marks the 80th anniversary of the rescue of a famous Army pilot from Collingsworth County.
Major William T. “Bill” Cherry was born in 1915 in the Marella Community,about four miles north of Quail, where his father and extended family had been farming since the turn of the century. Bill grew up in the Quail area, became a pilot and entered the U.S.Army Air Forces in Wo...
