Thomas N, Sherburne
"Tom"

Company K-2

Assembly/Taps Memorial Article:

Cullum No. 23425-1961 | November 28, 2023 | Died in Pacific Grove, CA Cremated. Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

Thomas Newton Sherburne was born in Indianapolis, IN, the son of Henry Newton Sherburne and Mildred Wagoner Sherburne. Tom grew up in Pensacola, FL, graduating from high school there in 1955 at age 16. He then attended Pensacola Junior College before receiving an appointment to West Point and entering with the Class of ’61 in the summer of 1957.

Assigned to Company K-2 all four years at West Point, Tom excelled in academics, maintaining grades that placed him comfortably within the top third of his class, a standing which continued through graduation. He was a stalwart on his company’s intramural teams and proficient in all areas of physical aptitude, which continued after graduation in carry-over sports such as tennis and golf, at which he excelled. With frequent assistance from a New Jersey companymate, Tom was continually “fixed up” with dates for social events at West Point to the envy of some of his classmates.

At graduation, Tom branched Armor and attended the basic course at Fort Knox, KY, followed by successful completion of Ranger and Airborne schools. His first assignment was with 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. In 1963 he was selected to serve as aide-de-camp to the chief of JUSMAG, Thailand, and transferred to Bangkok, where he must have caught the eye of the chief’s daughter, Nancy Easterbrook. This assignment was the first of many to Southeast Asia.

In 1965, Tom was posted to RVN as advisor to a Vietnamese armored cavalry troop in I Corps. His unit was involved in intensive combat operations, and Tom’s leadership and valor throughout was recognized with award of the Silver Star, a Bronze Star Medal with “V” device, several other decorations, and two awards of the Purple Heart. After a brief assignment at the I Corps Tactical Operations Center, Tom was selected to serve as aide for the MACV commander, General Westmoreland.

On return to CONUS, Tom attended the Armor Officer Advanced Course, graduating in 1967. Then it was back to RVN, where he served as a 4th Cavalry Regiment troop commander in the 1st Infantry Division. He was involved in extensive combat operations during the TET Offensive in 1968 and again demonstrated outstanding leadership and valor, which was validated with a second award of the Silver Star. Seriously wounded during TET combat operations, Tom was returned to CONUS for treatment and recovery at Fort Gordon, GA. Later, while still recovering and on light duty at Sixth Army Headquarters, Tom and Nan Easterbrook were married at Fort Ord, CA in 1968.

Following a course learning the Indonesian language at Monterey’s Defense Language Institute, Tom transferred to the Military Intelligence (MI) branch and entered the Foreign Area Specialist Program. After successfully obtaining a master’s degree in international relations at Ohio University, Tom was assigned as assistant Army attache at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, serving there from 1972 to 1975. It was during this tour that he honed his Indonesian language skills and established contacts and a reputation for straight dealing that would prove invaluable after Army retirement. Subsequently, while assigned to the staff of Fort Huachuca’s MI School in Arizona, Tom was selected for battalion command, which led to the transfer of the Sherburnes in 1977 to the Panama Canal Zone, where Tom commanded the 470th MI Battalion. Returning to CONUS in 1979, Tom attended the Army War College and, after graduation in 1980, remained on the staff at Carlisle until reassignment in 1982 as commander of Field Station Okinawa, where he oversaw Army Security Agency operations. Tom returned to the Army War College staff for two years before retiring from the Army as a colonel in 1986.

After retirement from the Army, Tom started his own company: Far East Trade and Investment Company. He initially planned a tour of U.S. universities for prospective students and families from Asia to help them apply to U.S. colleges. That endeavor did not pan out, so he turned to helping small businesses in south-central Pennsylvania increase their sales by taking them to trade shows in Europe. Soon, though, Triton Energy and United Engineers scooped him up to help them make headway into Indonesian and Malaysian markets for their companies to build infrastructure. He supported many deals due to the relationships he maintained from his time in Indonesia. These two jobs initiated a move from Carlisle, PA to the Washington, DC area, where he happily entertained many prospective clients for both companies on the golf course. Tom retired in 1999, and five years later the family moved to Pacific Grove, CA. In 1996, the family started annual treks to Maine, where they had a cabin built with lake access to Lake Damariscotta. For many years they spent several months each year at the cabin, becoming part of another community in which Tom was active in tennis and golf groups. Everywhere he went, Tom brought his sense of humor and his quick, broad smile, which he shared generously with everyone: his tennis opponents, colleagues, friends, and family.

Tom and Nan raised three children, Lisa, Amy, and Mark. After suffering for several years with dementia, Tom succumbed in late 2023 while residing in a California memory care facility. He is survived by his wife, Nan; his three children; two sons-in-law, Fumio and Nguyen; and three grandchildren: Kaz, Duy, and Khoi. As Tom once summarized his achievements on a military form, he “survived two Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts and helped to raise three children while retaining a sense of humor and some sanity.”

— Gene Witherspoon, Classmate and Nancy Sherburne, Wife