The oldest brother of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Donald Reed Herring, has died from the Wuhan virus, the Massachusetts senator said Thursday.
The former Democratic presidential candidate said her brother died Tuesday evening. He spent his career in the military after joining the U.S. Air Force at the age of 19.
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
The Boston Globe reported that Herring, 86, died in Norman, Oklahoma, about three weeks after testing positive for the virus.
Despite Warren’s status as a leading Democratic, Herring was reportedly a lifelong Republican.
Herring flew B-47 and B-52 bombers for the Air Force, and flew 288 combat missions in Vietnam, the newspaper reported. He served as a B-52 squadron pilot and a squadron aircraft commander before retiring in 1973 as a lieutenant colonel.
“What made him extra special was his smile—quick and crooked, it always seemed to generate its own light, one that lit up everyone around him,” Warren said.
The Horn News does not agree with Warren on virtually anything political, but our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family during these sad times.
The Associated Press contributed to this article