Dartmouth Veterans: Vietnam Perspectives

William Brewster Nickerson, ’64

William Brewster Nickerson, ’64 ---------------------------------------------------------sage dunlap chase L ieutenant (Junior Grade) William Brewster (Bruce) Nickerson, ’64, U.S. Navy, was the first Dartmouth man to die in Vietnam. On April 22, 1966, he was bombardier/navigator on a Grumman A-­ 6 Intruder off the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk when his plane was presumably shot down by enemy fire over the Gulf of Tonkin, following an attack on the city of Vinh. His body and that of the pilot, Lieutenant Commander Robert F. Weimorts, were never recovered. Although initially he was listed as MIA, Bruce Nickerson’s name is engraved on the Vietnam Wall. It was his sixty-­ second mission— ­ he had just turned twenty-­four. Bruce was an only son, and his death devastated his father, E. Carleton Nickerson (of old Cape Cod lineage) and stepmother Shirley, and also his mother, Priscilla Carr, and stepfather Charles, of Naples, Florida. All are now deceased, but forty-­ six years later, his older sister still can’t say his name without sobbing, and his younger half-­ sister regrets not having known him better because of being understandably preoccupied with her own teen life. His death left a huge hole in the lives of countless friends of all ages and all walks of life. For such a young man, he left a remarkably large legacy. His parents divorced early on, and Bruce was raised by his mother in New Canaan and Stamford, Connecticut. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1960 and moved on to Hanover with a number of classmates. At Dartmouth he was a member of Psi Upsilon, on the Judiciary Committee , chairman of Cutter Hall, and head of Paleopitus. He was very active in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, serving as an acolyte and volunteering many hours at Edgerton House. Rev. Edward MacBurney and his 28 : dartmouth veterans wife, Anne, were dear friends, and Chauncey Allen (longtime psychology professor) and his wife, Margaret , were almost surrogate parents. Bruce was very conflicted about enlisting in the Navy. He was incredibly idealistic, patriotic, and moral— ­ a truly “good” person who was sensitive and mature beyond his years. His life had been sheltered and privileged, yet he had incredible compassion for those who had less. Unquestionably scarred by divorce, he worried about doing the right thing. Not surprisingly , he chose to major in philosophy . In 1962, he spent time working as a Winant Volunteer doing settlement work in England, and spent the following two summers as a counselor for an Episcopal camp for inner-­ city children in northwest Connecticut— ­ a job he loved. In his last year at Dartmouth he was seriously thinking of going into the ministry, or possibly doing graduate work in counseling or social services. Yet the Navy beckoned . It was a lonely, difficult decision for him, but as the war ramped up, patriotism won out. Having made his decision, he put his all into his training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He graduated first academically in his flight class and third when academic and physical factors were balanced. This allowed him to win an appeal against an earlier restriction on flying due to a minor physical disability. Although he was very excited about the opportunity to fly, as his deployment neared, the ethical conflict reemerged . In 1965 he wrote: Lieutenant (JG) William Brewster (Bruce) Nickerson William Brewster Nickerson : 29 Bruce as counselor for inner-city camp “I am a living paradox or a hypocrite, for I say one thing, and do another . I love flying, Naval Aviation and the Navy, but the part about dropping bombs fights with my heart and soul. I know I am doing what God wants me to and I am here to serve him, but to fathom the mysterious and seemingly incongruous ways he works leaves me totally perplexed.” In a long letter written two days before he died, Bruce wrote of the beauty of Vietnam from the air— ­ the lush vegetation and the “countless magic waterfalls and winding rivers,” and how hard it was from the air to believe that there was a war going on. He was very aware of what a distanced and comfortable life those in the Navy experienced, compared to the Army and Marines on the ground. Yet their mission was cruel. “Many times I have made bombing runs and there has been a friendly 30 : dartmouth veterans village within 500 yards of my target, or I...