John Darrell Sherwood

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = John Darrell Sherwood
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birthdate = 1966 birth year and age|1966
birthplace = Concord, Massachusetts, United States
deathdate =
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occupation = historian
nationality = United States
period = 20th Century
genre = Military history, Naval history
subject = Korean War, Vietnam War
movement =
influences = Ronald H. Spector
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website =

John Darrell Sherwood (born 1966) is an American author who has published four books and numerous articles. He specializes in military history, but has also published articles on travel, and skiing.

Background and Education

A native of Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, Sherwood attended high school at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelors and masters degrees in history at Columbia University in New York City, and a doctorate in history at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. He worked from 1995-1997 at the US Army Center of Military History, and served as the center's first webmaster. In 1997, he joined the U.S. Naval Historical Center as a historian, and works in the center's Contemporary History Branch. [Leonard Unger, "American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies" ISBN 9780684136769]

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 War. In 1996, it was selected to be on the Air Force Chief of Staff's professional reading list. ["Officers in Flights Suits: The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War" (1996), ISBN 0-8147-8038-5]

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 War. 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. [John Darrell Sherwood, "Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience"(1999), ISBN 0-684-84784-1]

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 history 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 Award in 2004. [Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War (2004), ISBN 0-8147-9842-X]

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 riots 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. [Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the Fleet during the Vietnam War Era (2007), ISBN 0814740367]

Ongoing Research and Future Projects

His next book, "The Fight for the Delta", will look at the brownwater navy in the Vietnam War--the sailors who fought on the rivers and channels of the Mekong River Delta in South Vietnam. He is also working on an anthology of modern military writing with Walter Boyne and Martin H. Greenberg.

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 States, 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". [ [http://www.dcski.com/columnists/index.php#c5 DCSki Columnists] ]

elect Bibliography

* "Officers in Flights Suits: The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War" (1996), ISBN 0-8147-8038-5.
* "Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience"(1999), ISBN 0-684-84784-1.
* "Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War" (2004), ISBN 0-8147-9842-X.
* "Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the Fleet during the Vietnam War Era" (2007), ISBN 0814740367.

Notes