The oldest brother of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Donald Reed Herring, has died from the coronavirus, the 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 and was "charming and funny, a natural leader," Warren tweeted.

“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," she said.

The Boston Globe reported that Reed, 86, died in Norman, Oklahoma, about three weeks after testing positive for the virus.

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.

Share:
More In Culture
Experts Pull Documents, Money From Lee Statue Time Capsule
Conservation experts in Virginia’s capital pulled books, money, ammunition, documents and other artifacts Tuesday from a long-sought-after time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Millions Petition to Reduce Trucker's 110-Year Sentence
In 2019, a truck driver in Colorado crashed into traffic killing several people, and causing a 28 car pile up. Today, the driver, Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos is serving a sentence of 110 years in prison. The sentence is causing outrage, and supporters of Aguilera-Meredos have started a petition asking colorado's governor to step in. this petition has now reached over 4 million signatures. Karen Nance, criminal defense attorney & former prosecutor, and Megan Schrader, opinion editor, Denver Post join cheddar news to discuss.
Load More