Nickerson, William Brewster
Navy Lieutenant junior grade

William Brewster Nickerson, age 24, from Fairfield County Stamford, Connecticut .

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Dartmouth (1964)

Date of death: Friday, April 22, 1966
Death details: On April 22, 1966, an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 151785, call sign “Buckeye 805”) carrying two crew members took off from the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63) as the lead aircraft in a two-plane armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. After attacking their targets, the pilot of “Buckeye 805” directed the flight to rendezvous over the water southeast of Vinh. Witnesses from aboard the wingman aircraft reported that after arriving at the rendezvous point, they observed “Buckeye 805” crash into the water for unknown reasons. The two crew members aboard “Buckeye 805” were not located following the incident. Lieutenant Junior Grade William Brewster Nickerson, who joined the U.S. Navy from Connecticut, was a member of Attack Squadron 85. He was the bombardier/navigator aboard ?Buckeye 805? when it went down on April 22, 1966, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Today, Lieutenant Junior Grade Nickerson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Valley News (1966), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency