You will remember Bruce Nickerson who died in Vietnam in 1966. Bill Madden brought to my attention at year end that Cape Cod Community College (where Bruce's father was president from 1964 to 1972) is raising funds to renovate and expand the William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives that were established at the college in 1971 in Bruce's memory. The impressive collection contains more than 10,000 books, manuscripts, maps, ships' logs, diaries, deeds, town records, genealogical records, many marine antiquities including scrimshaw and images dating back to the early Native American and colonial experience of this country's first settlers and their ancestors through the 21st century. Bruce's family are direct descendants of Elder William Brewster who came to Cape Cod on the Mayflower in 1620.
Bruce was an outstanding member of our class and an exceptional leader. I never realized until I read the material relating to the Nickerson Archives that Bruce was awarded ten medals posthumously for heroism and extraordinary and meritorious achievement including the purple heart.
He was the first person many of us knew who died in Vietnam and the report of his untimely death has had a lasting impact on us. Bill Madden writes:
Fade-out fade-in to the mid 1980s and I was returning to Washington DC on the private train for the secretaries of the Army and Navy and US VP having attended the Army Navy game in Philadelphia. While heading back with friends to stay in Georgetown we decided to visit this relatively new Vietnam Veterans Memorial having just concluded a day dedicated to the military. Late into the evening as we approached the park I wondered where this famous "Wall" could be. In daylight you can barely notice the whole memorial as you drive by. Unlike most of the DC memorials that are tall monuments - Lincoln, Washington, etc. - this one is at or below the horizon. We parked across the highway and ran over to an entrance and started down numerous steps. On the way to the site I had mentioned to my companions that I had known only one person from Dartmouth that was killed - his name was Bruce Nickerson. We jumped off the bottom step and walked over to a wall of over 55,000+ names and started reading the list in front of us. The first name I read off the list was Bruce Nickerson! This one-in 50,000 event was quite electrifying and clearly a signal it was meant to pin a lasting experience on me.
Bruce was chair of Palaeopitus our senior year. I and other members of Palaeopitus felt the impact of his death very personally. I remember him often when I am at Dartmouth because he was a large part of my experience and because his untimely death in 1966 stunned me into realizing the true impact of the war in a far away place named Vietnam. He was a natural leader. Harvey Tettlebaum wrote:
I, too, had the identical reaction to Bruce's most untimely death. It brought home to me most personally not only the results of war, but also forced me to examine the war effort more closely and critically. Coincidently, at the time I had met and became friends with Margaret McNamara, who was enrolled as a graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, where I was in law and graduate schools. The discussions we had over coffee about the war were enlightening to me as I learned that her father the Secretary of Defense never discussed the subject with the family. My questions about the war became her questions and I am sure had her father known about our discussions, he would have been happy to have me drafted in spite of my student deferment.
Len Glass commented: "The news of Bruce's death brought me to tears years ago and remains one of the most poignant moments in my life: an irreplaceable man who we were privileged to know, work with and learn from."
Bob Burton commented: "His death had a huge impact on me personally; profoundly sad but very proud of Bruce. When Bonnie and I were in Washington during the time I worked at the RTC we went to the Vietnam Memorial and looked up Bruce's name. Whenever the subject of the war comes up in conversation I mention Bruce and his name on the wall."
Bill and I and several other 64s have already made contributions in support of the Archives. If you want to join us, you can send your tax deductible contribution to Cape Cod Community College Educational Foundation, 2240 Iyannough Road, W. Barnstable, MA 02668.