From the front lines of law enforcement, to the front lines of war, it's incredibly rare for people who fought against each other to become friends, but that's exactly the story "Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis brings us now.

- All right, so picture this.

You are an Air Force fighter pilot serving the United States of America in the Vietnam War.

Some 40, 50 years later or so, you get a phone call with the person on the other end asking if you'd be interested in meeting some of the very same people you once fought against all those years ago.

Would you do it?

David Vipperman of Rock Hill did.

And this is his story.

(music) It's been a long time since David Vipperman stepped into a cockpit.

You're 85?

- 85.

- [Jason] 85.

- We're gonna have some fun.

- [Jason] But it's a place he's very familiar with.

- That's where I went to work.

When I woke up in in the day, that was my office.

- [Copilot] And then you have your seatbelt on?

- I do.

Do I want to accomplish the mission?

Yes.

- [Jason] Today's mission is simple: to enjoy that flying feeling one more time.

- [Copilot] Master on, rotating beacon on, fuel pump on.

- I know there were missions that I flew that a lot of people surely were hurt.

None of us took joy in the destruction we brought to each other.

- [Jason] In many ways, David Vipperman has lived a charmed life.

The Rock Hill native, graduating from The Citadel, marrying the love of his life, Kloo.

- There we are at the ring dance.

- Right, that's our youth.

- [Jason] A family man with two sons, a successful career in education, real estate and banking, and recognized with South Carolina's highest civilian honor: the Order of Palmetto, honoring a lifetime of outstanding service, dedication, and contributions to the state and its people.

- Well, I served in the Air Force about nine years.

(psychedelic rock music) - [Jason] His service to his country, putting David right in the middle of the Vietnam War.

- Our son was six weeks old when he left.

- Most of the missions that I flew were at night over North Vietnam.

- [Jason] David flying the biggest, fastest plane of the time, the F-4 Phantom, - Just advance the throttles and wait a few moments, and you would be passing Mach one and then Mach two, which is twice the speed of sound, about 1400 miles an hour.

- [Jason] A fighter jet so advanced for its time, David felt nearly invincible.

- I felt very confident.

I loved the airplane.

I felt very much at home in it.

It was like putting on a sweater almost.

You just felt like you were one with the airplane.

And at that age you feel a little bulletproof anyway.

- [Jason] David even making headlines in the Rock Hill newspaper after one of his airstrikes.

- I was over there for about nine months.

- [Jason] The Vietnam War ended in 1975.

43 years later, in 2018, David got a call that would change his life - From a former Air Force pilot whom I knew, and he informed me that there was a group putting together a trip to North Vietnam.

It's all Vietnam now.

He wanted to know if I were interested in going.

And I said, "Absolutely."

- [Jason] The proposal: have retired American pilots go to Vietnam at their own expense to meet with the very same people they once fought against.

David recently shared his experience with a group at Lifelong Learning in Rock Hill.

- So the government is not involved, the Air Force is not involved, it's a personal thing.

We're just gonna get together in this room, have a meal together and see what unfolds.

- [Jason] Of course not all veterans were on board with the idea, but definite intrigue for those who agreed to go.

- And the agenda simply says, "And see what happens."

That was all it was.

Are we going to fight?

Are we gonna have outing?

Are we going to get mad at each other?

Are we going to want to punch each other out because we bombed their country, and they shot down some of our friends?

There were 15 of us former pilots that made this trip together.

We met 23 of their pilots.

- Well, I was very happy for him because he wanted to go back to Vietnam, and we just never made those arrangements.

- One of their pilots sitting across the table from me, I could tell that he was giving me the eye.

He said to me, "Did you bomb my country?"

And I said, "Yes, I bombed your country."

He said, "Did you bomb my hometown?"

I said, "What's your hometown?"

He said, "Hanoi."

And I said, "Yes I did."

And he named some other targets that we had attacked, and he asked me was I a part of that.

And I said, "Yes I was."

He said, "You just look like a kind old man to me."

(audience laughs) Those were exactly his words.

And I said, "I'll accept that as a title."

See what happens?

He had decided to be friends in the awfulness of war.

His name is Quy, Nguyen Quy.

He was a great pilot, got shot down by us.

- [Jason] To this day, David and Quy still keep in touch, mainly through email.

- We ask about each other's family.

We pray together at times.

And I thought this is something that's marvelous.

Once an enemy, now a friend.

There is another pilot that I met that has made a difference in my life and his name was Van Bay.

- [Jason] During the war, Nguyen Van Bay is credited with shooting down seven American planes.

But through an interpreter, he made a connection with David.

- There was an acceptance that it just felt right, and that all happened on this same night.

- [Jason] This national hero who had been Vietnam's top pilot during the war, invited David to his family farm some 800 miles away.

They even went to an opera together.

- And as he said to me, he and Quy said, you know, "We didn't know you.

You didn't know us.

We were both doing what our country asked us to do, and we did it and it's over.

Now we can put that aside and have a relationship that amounts to a good friendship."

- [Jason] The reconciliation between American and Vietnamese pilots was a success, but it's impact felt even more one year later.

- 1:30 in the morning, our phone rang and it was Van Bay's son, and he told me that his father had a stroke.

Van Bay had a stroke in his garden and he was dying.

He asked me to call you.

- [Speaker] Wow.

- To have that to happen, it just makes this happen.

(reporter speaking in Vietnamese) - [Jason] Nguyen Van Bay passed away following his stroke, his death making national news across Vietnam and making the impact of his reconciliation with the United States and with David that much more meaningful.

- If it weren't for reconciliation, we as a nation, we as a Christian country, people, would be in deep trouble.

But God has reconciled us.

We can reconcile other people and restore relationships, fix things and go forward.

And that's the hope that I have for our country and for the world.

- [Jason] In David's words, a closing reflection: "The bravest mission I ever flew did not involve weapons."

- Oh, I love that story so much, Jason, because I admit I am friends with the Vippermans.

Kloo and David are some dear, dear friends of ours.

And his commitment to service certainly runs deep in his DNA, doesn't it?

- It does.

And that's the interesting thing about this is that, you know, we talked about David, and obviously everything he's done and having gone to The Citadel and serving the US Air Force, but we didn't really talk too much about the family and both of David's sons and Kloo's sons, ended up following in his footsteps going to The Citadel.

And one, actually, I believe, flies commercial, I think he's with one of the major airlines.

I think it's Delta.

- Absolutely.

- But, you know, so it's a family of aviators is really what it's turned into between the Air Force and The Citadel and now flying commercially - And, again, you won't meet better human beings in the world than the Vippermans.

And so thank you so much for sharing that story with us.

- Yeah, a sweet, sweet couple.