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Wednesday, June 14, 2000

Flag, family still apart

Local man searches for relatives of WWII casualty Sherrill

By Deborah Martínez
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Former city secretary C.W. 'Chile' Vetters wants to return this flag, which was used to dedicate Sherrill Park in downtown Corpus Christi, to any members of the Sherrill family.

As soon as the Marine Corps officer handed a U.S. flag to the mother of one of Corpus Christi's first World War II casualties, she broke out in tears.
   It was March 23, 1952, a little more than 10 years after Lora Sherrill's son, Warren Joseph Sherrill, died aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. On that March day, a park on Shoreline Boulevard was dedicated to the WWII hero.
   For his mother, the dedication was too much to handle, said C.W. "Chile" Vetters, then city secretary.
   The sight of the flag was too much to bear. So Sherrill asked Vetters to take care of the flag until she could finish healing, he said.

How you can help If you know the whereabouts of the family of Warren Joseph Sherrill, contact C.W. "Chile" Vetters at 884-2165.

   "She said, give me a chance, a couple of days, to kind of accept what happened and then bring it to me,'' remembers Vetters, now 84 and living in Corpus Christi.
   "I tried numerous times to give it to her but we never got together. She wanted it and she didn't want it, you know. It reminded her too much. She's probably gone now."
   So Vetters is searching. He wants to find someone in Warren Sherrill's family who can take the yellowing flag from the box that has been sitting in his home ever since that day in 1952 when Sherrill tearfully gave away the Stars and Stripes used to honor her son. It would be perfect if he could give the flag back during a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in honor of Flag Day in the park named for Warren Joseph Sherrill. Flag Day, which was proclaimed in August 1949 by President Harry S. Truman, officially is celebrated today.
   "I thought they might want to have the flag because it represents his contribution to the war," Vetters said. "The flag represents Sherrill's life."
   As recently as eight years ago, veterans groups looked for Sherrill's family for renovation efforts at Sherrill Park, said Al Cantu, chairman of the Mayor's Committee for Veterans Affairs. Every lead hit a dead end, he said.
   Since then, various people have tried looking for the family. Still, no one in Corpus Christi seems to know where Warren Sherrill's family is today.
   "We looked at old newspapers, looked in the phone book and no one there was related," Cantu said. "We asked around and they all remembered him, but nobody knew what happened to the family."
   Sherrill dropped out of Corpus Christi High School, now Miller High School, in 1938 to join the Navy. His twin brother, John B. Sherrill, joined the Navy with him, according to newspaper accounts. Their younger brother, Koren Thomas Sherrill, joined the Coast Guard immediately after Sherrill's death at Pearl Harbor and died less than a year later.
   Vetters said he hopes someone who does know where the family is today steps forward by Saturday, the day of the Flag Day ceremony.
  

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Staff writer Deborah Martínez can be reached at 886-3618 or by e-mail at _martinezd@caller.com

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