Body of Plymouth paratrooper found in Afghanistan

BOSTON -- The high cost of war has hit home for one local family.

The body of 21-year-old Army Specialist Benjamin Sherman, of Plymouth, was found Tuesday. Sherman went missing last week.

His family, friends and pregnant wife gathered this Veterans Day to grieve at his mother's home in Plymouth.

"He was raised under the American flag to be honorable, loyal, respectful, and courteous," said Denise Sherman, his mother.

Sherman and another paratrooper were swept away in a river while trying to retrieve supplies dropped from planes.

"I know the day that he jumped into the river to try and save his comrade is not because he saw another soldier in the water, but because he saw his brother," said Meredith Sherman, the paratrooper's sister.

Sherman was on his second tour in Afghanistan. He joined the Army after graduating from Plymouth South High School in 2006 and marrying his childhood sweetheart.

Sherman's wife, Patricia, is expecting their first child in March. She got word at the couple's home in North Carolina.

"I was absolutely devastated. I basically just collapsed to the floor and started balling my eyes out," Patricia Sherman said.

"I'm devastated right now, but he is my hero. He was doing what he loved," said William Sherman, the soldier's father.

Patricia Sherman said despite her loss she has no regrets. She knows her husband loved serving his country in uniform and had planned on having a career in the military.

Afghan and international forces are still searching for the second soldier.

Sherman was assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He went missing Nov. 4.

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