United States Air Force Officer. When he was shot down over Laos in 1963, his wife, Margaret Louise and two children were told only that the Air America plane on which he was co-pilot had crashed, and that he was presumed dead. Years passed, no body was recovered and no details were offered. Charles Herrick, who grew up in Lockport, New York, and played semi-professional ice hockey in Canada, began flying supply planes for the United States military in 1943. He flew supply missions in the China-Burma-India Theater in support of Chinese troops fighting on the side of the Allies against Japan during World War II. As an Air Force Captain during the Korean War, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He joined the Air Force Reserves when that conflict ended in 1953 and he retired as a Major in April 1963. He joined Air America in 1962. Everything about the CIA-owned airline was clouded in secrecy then and soon was transferred to an airstrip in central Laos near the border of Thailand. On the day their plane went down, Joseph Cheney and Herrick had completed three drops. They refilled their C-46 twin-engine cargo plane with sacks of rice and water buffalo meat. Just before the scheduled drop, he said, they flew over Savannakhet Province, Laos, a known stronghold of Pathet Lao communist rebels, and the aircraft was hit with 37mm antiaircraft fire. Their final radio message, that they were heading back to their base in Thailand, ended in mid-sentence. After his remains were discovered by search teams 40 years later, he was interned on June 25, 2003 with full military honors.
United States Air Force Officer. When he was shot down over Laos in 1963, his wife, Margaret Louise and two children were told only that the Air America plane on which he was co-pilot had crashed, and that he was presumed dead. Years passed, no body was recovered and no details were offered. Charles Herrick, who grew up in Lockport, New York, and played semi-professional ice hockey in Canada, began flying supply planes for the United States military in 1943. He flew supply missions in the China-Burma-India Theater in support of Chinese troops fighting on the side of the Allies against Japan during World War II. As an Air Force Captain during the Korean War, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He joined the Air Force Reserves when that conflict ended in 1953 and he retired as a Major in April 1963. He joined Air America in 1962. Everything about the CIA-owned airline was clouded in secrecy then and soon was transferred to an airstrip in central Laos near the border of Thailand. On the day their plane went down, Joseph Cheney and Herrick had completed three drops. They refilled their C-46 twin-engine cargo plane with sacks of rice and water buffalo meat. Just before the scheduled drop, he said, they flew over Savannakhet Province, Laos, a known stronghold of Pathet Lao communist rebels, and the aircraft was hit with 37mm antiaircraft fire. Their final radio message, that they were heading back to their base in Thailand, ended in mid-sentence. After his remains were discovered by search teams 40 years later, he was interned on June 25, 2003 with full military honors.
Bio by: Debbie
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