July 21, 1965 – T. J. Parker with the 481st TFS out of Bien Hoa AB was flying F-100 #563334 when his aircraft was hit by gunfire. T.J. was forced to eject and was recovered by an Army Helo.
Three years later on July 21, 1968, LTC Sherman Flanagan was flying as “Icon 4” in F-100D #562905 when the aircraft was hit by AAA over Laos. Flanagan’s F-100 crashed and his body was not recovered.
Sherman was born on April 8, 1930, and hailed from Westminster, MD. He enlisted in the Air Force and entered through the National Guard. He had been serving with the 355TFS out of Phu Cat AB in Vietnam.
“He had been in Vietnam since May 1968 after his reserve unit in the Air Force was called up for active duty in January.
He was believed to be the first Guardsman called to duty during the period to have died in Vietnam.
Previous to his service in Vietnam, he had served in the Korean conflict with the Air Force.
Before his reserve unit was reactivated, Flanagan was a lawyer with the legal firm of Cable and McDaniel in Westminster. He had practiced law since 1960 when he graduated from the University of Maryland law school.”(2)
Sherman is honored on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 51w, Line 25.
Sources: https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=308730
(2) Taken from the “Carroll County Times” newspaper, Memorial Day 1989 edition.