Elizabeth Warren’s older brother dies of coronavirus complications

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren confirmed Thursday that her oldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, has died from coronavirus complications on Tuesday night.
• The 86-year-old Reed died in Norman, Oklahoma after being tested positive for COVID-19 about three weeks ago.
• The senator said her brother “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.”

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has confirmed that her eldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, has died from complications related to the novel coronavirus.

“My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening,” Warren tweeted Thursday morning. “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,” the Massachusetts senator 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

The news was first reported by the Boston Globe on Thursday morning. Warren told the newspaper that she is “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.”

She also shared how heartbreaking the situation is because “there’s no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close. I will miss my brother.”

The Boston Globe also reported that Herring’s death came three weeks after he first tested positive for the virus.

As of this writing, there are more than 50,000 people who died from the virus in the U.S., according to data from John Hopkins University.

Herring was one of Warren’s three older brothers, who all served in the military. Earlier this year, the three brothers were all featured in a campaign ad for Warren before she dropped out.

The Hill reported that in the ad, the brothers, only one of which is a Democrat, discussed how even though they differ with their sister on certain policy issues, the siblings were still united in their common values: “fighting for their families and their communities.”

Herring was admitted to a hospital in February after contracting pneumonia, according to his family, adding that he had a battle with cancer years ago.

Source: The HILL