Senator Elizabeth Warren has confirmed that her oldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, has died from complications related to the coronavirus. He was 86.
“My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening,” Warren said in a tweet Thursday. “He joined the Air Force at 19 and spent his career in the military, including five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam.”
“He was charming and funny, a natural leader,” she added.
My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening. He joined the Air Force at 19 and spent his career in the military, including five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam. He was charming and funny, a natural leader. https://t.co/b8m0xKzAmM
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 23, 2020
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Herring Passed Just Three Weeks After Being Diagnosed With Coronavirus
The Boston Globe broke the news Thursday morning, with Warren saying that she was “grateful to the nurses and other front-line staff who took care of my brother, but it is hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say ‘I love you’ one more time.”
“And now there’s no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close,” she added. “I will miss my brother.”
Herring’s died just three weeks after he first tested positive for the virus.
I’m grateful to the nurses and frontline staff who took care of him, but it’s hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say “I love you” one more time—and no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close. I'll miss you dearly my brother. pic.twitter.com/oOG6HArEL6
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 23, 2020
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He Was an Air Force Veteran Who Flew 288 Combat Missions in Vietnam
Military newspaper Stars and Stripes noted, “Herring flew B-47 and B-52 bombers for the Air Force, and flew 288 combat missions in Vietnam… He served as a B-52 squadron pilot and a squadron aircraft commander before retiring in 1973 as a lieutenant colonel.”
Warren featured her three older brothers – all of whom served in the military – in a campaign ad earlier this year before she dropped out of the presidential race.
In the ad, Warren’s brothers, only one of which is a Democrat (Herring was a Republican), discussed how despite the fact that they didn’t agree with their sister on certain policies or issues, they all believed in “fighting for their families and their communities.”
Herring is survived by his wife, Judith Anne Hart, and two sons.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's oldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, died on Tuesday night after contracting the novel coronavirus, she confirmed.
Herring, 86, known as Don Reed, was an Air Force pilot who flew hundreds of combat missions in Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/uke2crUqYR
— M.News World (@mnews_world) April 23, 2020