CHEYENNE, Wyo. \u2014 It was a long time coming for two U.S. Air Force veterans. But when it finally happened, the moment was worth the wait of a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheyenne resident Ray Cahoon and Roy Salmon of Melbourne, Florida, met while stationed at Tachikawa Airfield in western Tokyo in 1957. Two years later, however, they lost touch after Cahoon was transferred while Salmon was at a track meet in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For decades, the two men didn\u2019t speak, but they never forgot one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was until summer 2017, when Salmon went out on a limb and reached out to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle asking if its managing editor could find his old friend, who he knew once lived in Cheyenne. Though he tried to find him before through the Air Force, Salmon was unable to do so. Undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, the 82-year-old Salmon knew it might be his last chance to find Cahoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A short time after he sent his letter to the newspaper, Salmon received a letter from Cahoon, 84, confirming he was alive and well. Since then, the two have been exchanging letters and phone calls catching up after decades apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last Friday, the two shared a moment transcending letter and phone correspondence when they met at the Wyoming-Colorado border on Interstate 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid the roaring traffic, tears, laughter and excited chatter surrounded the two long-lost friends\u2019 first embrace since losing touch nearly 60 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy God, I finally found you,\u201d Cahoon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two Air Force servicemen became close friends after meeting on the air base\u2019s track team. Along with Cahoon\u2019s wife, Clara, and daughter, Sharon, they would go to movies and enjoy dinner together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey never did a darn thing without me being with them,\u201d Salmon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it might seem like simple social rituals, it meant the world to Salmon, who is Jamaican, joined the Air Force because he was unable to find work in New York City among racially-biased employers. And the discrimination didn\u2019t stop while in the service. When going to the movies with the Cahoons, a white family, Salmon said it was clear certain people didn\u2019t approve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven in the military, you know, back in those days, there were so many racists,\u201d Salmon said. \u201cWe\u2019d go to the movies with his little daughter, and you could see in their eyes, they didn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for the Cahoons, they loved Salmon for who he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut Roy, you never told me you were black,\u201d Cahoon said laughing during the interstate-side reunion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salmon could hardly find the words to express how much it meant to him to have the friendship of the family that didn\u2019t see him for the color of his skin, but for the quality of his character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese folks, I was a human being, and they treated me like I was.\u201d Salmon said trailing off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFamily,\u201d Roy said, finishing his friend\u2019s thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both men came from poverty-stricken backgrounds, and felt kindred to one another because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI caught all the trouble, but we survived,\u201d Cahoon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salmon said a strong part of their friendship was how he always admired Cahoon\u2019s ability to pick himself up and make the most of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis guy is so resilient,\u201d Salmon said of Cahoon. \u201cThis guy got knocked down so many times, and he just picked himself up and kept on going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to what they shared from their backgrounds and similar personalities, Cahoon said there\u2019s a special bond between service members in the U.S. military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a bond that never breaks,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the driving force. And our backgrounds are so similar, where you have to fight for every minute of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salmon agreed his life and relationships would not have been the same without his military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe military family is special,\u201d Salmon said. \u201cThe Air Force family has been very good for me. I don\u2019t even know how to express it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Cahoon, reconnecting with his friend last Friday was one of the best moments of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing adopted was the best, then getting into the service, meeting friends like this, and then getting back together again,\u201d Cahoon uttered through the tears. \u201cIt\u2019s like finding a long-lost brother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a friendship that couldn\u2019t be kept apart coming full circle, Salmon said. And though they might never see each other again, he said he wasn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope you last forever, my friend,\u201d Salmon said. \u201cAnd if I don\u2019t ever get to see you again, I\u2019ll see you on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a long time coming for two U.S. Air Force veterans. But when it finally happened, the moment was worth the wait of a lifetime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,26,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5156],"class_list":["post-36427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"J6BF53CVN5G6JDEBI22XESL3KQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2017\/10\/04\/air-force-veterans-reconnect-after-more-than-50-years-apart\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n