A former Vietnamese pilot and two American foes he confronted in the Việt Nam War four decades ago have become the best of friends now in peace.
One day in March 2014, Vietnamese Nguyễn Hồng Mỹ and American John Stiles walked side by side around the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, sharing their wartime memories.
Few would know that the two used to be on opposing sides during the Việt Nam War that ended on April 30, 1975 when the U.S.-backed Sài Gòn regime fell.
Mỹ was the first Vietnamese pilot to shoot down an American aircraft in 1972 and Stiles’ F4 the first American jet to be shot down by a Vietnamese pilot that year.
On Jan 17, 1972, amidst the escalating war, Mỹ, in his MiG-21 aircraft, fired Stiles’ F4 to the ground.
Stiles was lucky to cheat death after parachuting down and being trapped on a tree in central Việt Nam for two days.