To:
Subject: Capt. John Brooks Sherman
Date: Sun, 29 May 2016 15:06:55 -0400
On May 28thMariann and I traveled to Providence, RI to make a presentation to Brown University of artifacts given to us by Vietnamese contacts regarding John Brooks Sherman from the Class of ’62. Capt. Brown had been shot in an F8E Crusader on March 25,1966. We were joined by Mokie Porter, who helped facilitate this event.
Mr. Nyugen Chi had witnessed the crash and with a neighbor buried the pilot. In 1990 they turned the body over to the US. He had kept a watch and a knife, which he returned years later through Vietnamese media to VVA. After researching the crash it was determined that Capt. Sherman was the pilot but had no living family. It was then determined that he went to Brown. As a result we presented the artifacts to them. Unbeknownst to us, our presentation became part of a larger commemoration of all the Vietnam veterans who graduated from Brown. This included a panel of two veterans and a widow, who told their stories. Brown had a Navy ROTC at the time and as a result many of them became Marine aviators. Mr. Taylor flew CH53s and after Vietnam flew Marine and President Nixon for two years. Ms. Elaine Zimmer Davis' first husband Capt. Jerry Zimmer was MIA on August 29, 1969. Mr. Barry Kowalski was a grunt 1st Lt. in I Corps with the 3rd of the 3rd of the 3rd Battalion. Well over 100 people attended this event. It was a wonderful experiance.
One of the Brown alumni was Peter Wayman. A former Naval officer Peter is from Virginia and after getting a VVA Veteran from a friend he stopped by our office on the way to RI and became a Life Member. He then brought multiple copies of the Veterans with him to give out at the event. Now that is commitment.
Several other Brown alumni were VVA members and we were joined by VVA RISC President John Weiss and other local members.
It was a great day for VVA.