John Darrell Sherwood
Encyclopedia
John Darrell Sherwood is an American
author
who has published five books and numerous articles. He specializes in military history
, but has also published articles on travel
, and skiing
.
. In 1996, it was selected to be on the Air Force Chief of Staff's professional reading list.
. Like Officers in Flights Suits, it is a social history that focuses on individual combat experiences and the institutional cultures of the fighter pilots who fought in America's longest war.
The U.S. Naval Institute chose it as a notable book of 1999.
to tell the story of U.S. Navy air power during the latter stages of the Vietnam War, 1968-1972. As such, it covers the American bombing campaign in Laos
, Operation Linebacker
, and Operation Pocket Money (the U.S. Navy's 1972 aerial mining operations against North Vietnam). It also provides in-depth portraits of 21 naval aviators who fought in Vietnam. The book received honorable mention for the North American Society for Oceanic History
's John Lyman Book Award
in 2004.
s that occurred on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)
and the USS Hassayampa (AO-145), as well as a sit-down strike and protest on USS Constellation (CV-64)
. The book also explores a variety of other, less well-known riots, and the Navy's efforts, under Admiral Elmo Zumwalt to improve the racial climate in the U.S. Navy.
--the sailors
who fought on the rivers and coastal areas of South Vietnam.
, and has written ski and travel related articles for a variety of publications, including The Financial Times, The Slovak Spectator
, and The Ski-Europe Report.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who has published five books and numerous articles. He specializes in military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
, but has also published articles on travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
, and skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
.
Officers in Flight Suits
His first book, Officers in Flights Suits: The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War (1996), examines the personal wartime experiences of U.S. Air Force fighter pilots in the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. In 1996, it was selected to be on the Air Force Chief of Staff's professional reading list.
Fast Movers
His second history, Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience(1999), focuses on U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilots who fought in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Like Officers in Flights Suits, it is a social history that focuses on individual combat experiences and the institutional cultures of the fighter pilots who fought in America's longest war.
The U.S. Naval Institute chose it as a notable book of 1999.
Afterburner
Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War (2004) is the first book published by Sherwood as an official historian at the U.S. Naval Historical Center. As a consequence, he collects no royalties for the project. The book combines traditional operational history with social historySocial history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...
to tell the story of U.S. Navy air power during the latter stages of the Vietnam War, 1968-1972. As such, it covers the American bombing campaign in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker was the title of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War....
, and Operation Pocket Money (the U.S. Navy's 1972 aerial mining operations against North Vietnam). It also provides in-depth portraits of 21 naval aviators who fought in Vietnam. The book received honorable mention for the North American Society for Oceanic History
North American Society for Oceanic History
The North American Society for Oceanic History is the national organization in the United States of America for professional historians, underwater archeologists, archivists, librarians, museum specialists and others working in the broad field of maritime history...
's John Lyman Book Award
John Lyman Book Awards
The John Lyman Book Awards are given annually by the North American Society for Oceanic History for books published in six categories in the broad field of Maritime history:* Canadian naval and maritime history* U.S. naval history* U.S...
in 2004.
Black Sailor, White Navy
Sherwood's latest book, Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the United States Navy During the Vietnam War Era (2007), examines racial unrest in the Navy during the early 1970s. In particular, it tells the story of the race riotRace riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
s that occurred on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)
USS Kitty Hawk riot
The USS Kitty Hawk riot, sometimes called the Kitty Hawk mutiny, was a race riot which took place on the United States Navy aircraft carrier on the night of 11/12 October 1972, off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker...
and the USS Hassayampa (AO-145), as well as a sit-down strike and protest on USS Constellation (CV-64)
USS Constellation (CV-64)
USS Constellation , a Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the "new constellation of stars" on the flag of the United States and the only naval vessel ever authorized to display red, white, and blue designation numbers...
. The book also explores a variety of other, less well-known riots, and the Navy's efforts, under Admiral Elmo Zumwalt to improve the racial climate in the U.S. Navy.
Ongoing Research and Future Projects
His next book, Brownwater Sailors: Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam, 1965-68, will look at the brownwater navy in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
--the sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
who fought on the rivers and coastal areas of South Vietnam.
Other writing activity
In addition to his professional work, Sherwood is a columnist for DCSki.com, a web site devoted to skiing in the Mid-Atlantic StatesMid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
, and has written ski and travel related articles for a variety of publications, including The Financial Times, The Slovak Spectator
The Slovak Spectator
The Slovak Spectator is Slovakia's only English-language newspaper.It is published weekly by The Rock, s.r.o. publishing house and covers local news, culture and business...
, and The Ski-Europe Report.
Select bibliography
- Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the Fleet during the Vietnam War Era (2007), ISBN 0814740367.
- Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War (2004), ISBN 0-8147-9842-X.
- Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience(1999), ISBN 0-684-84784-1.
- Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 (2009), ISBN 978-0-945274-58-2.
- Officers in Flights Suits: The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War (1996), ISBN 0-8147-8038-5.