About
This website is to honor my father, Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, affectionately known as Chick.
It is a collection of good, important, and fun things about his military and community life.
You can find him on Wikipedia, and there are several bios linked here which give information about his professional feats and heroic exploits.
My portrayals of him are much warmer since I’ve only ever known him as Daddy. He is loyal to those he calls friends, a fine and competitive tennis player, and as generous and active in the community as anyone I’ve seen. He is my friend and confidant, my counsellor and mentor, and my favorite drinking buddy.
He was a loving husband while my mother was alive. Mother and Daddy were an amazing team who accomplished much together and were fiercely in each other’s corners. They raised a family of four children and taught us the love of learning, of sports, of doing our best, and of giving back to our community.
Daddy’s career took him from West Point cadet, to Fighter Ace, to Commander of Air University. After retirement he was the Executive Director for the United Way and the Commissioner of Human Resources for the state of Alabama. He lived a life of service, and even today, at 93, he is the president of the American Fighter Aces Association.
Arguably one of the highlights of his life was receiving the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of the American Fighter Aces Association in 2015. And on his 90th birthday, Governor Kay Ivey signed a proclamation calling the day “Chick Cleveland Day.”
He is recognized as the 40th Ace from the Korean War, a recognition that came to him over 50 years after his last aerial victory. It is a beautiful story of friendship, loyalty, honor, and integrity.
In 2012, author and historian Warren A. Trest wrote a lovely and engaging biography of Daddy’s life, Once a Fighter Pilot, and in 2013, artist Roy Grinnell created a beautiful painting, called Sabre to the Rescue, illustrating one of Daddy’s aerial battles.
Through the star-struck eyes of an affectionate and doting daughter, I will only ever be able to see him as Daddy, but when his eyes light up and his hands fly and wave, dipping and soaring through the air as he tells stories of his aerial battles, I see the daring, dashing young fighter pilot, Chick.
Unfortunately, his book is out of print for the time-being, but he has a few copies in his possession if you’d like to buy one.