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Hundreds mourn fallen soldier in Plymouth

E-mail|Link|Comments () November 20, 2009 02:15 PM

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

PLYMOUTH -- Hundreds of people gathered today at a funeral service here to honor and remember Sergeant Benjamin Sherman, a local soldier who died earlier this month in Afghanistan.

Benjamin Sherman

Sherman disappeared Nov. 4 after jumping into a river in western Afghanistan. He was reportedly trying to save another soldier who appeared to be struggling against the current.

"We, too have lost a family member. An Army family member. And we share in your loss. There's a warrior ethos: never leave a fallen comrade. And that's how Benjamin left this world," Major General Paul Izzo told a crowd packed into the Second Church of Plymouth.

Friends and family remembered Sherman, 21, who was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant and awarded a Bronze Star as well as other medals, as a competitive young man who loved trucks, tattoos, baseball, and BMX bikes.

Sherman's sister, Meredith, recalled the last time he spoke with her.

She said he told her, "Meredith, I need to tell you something. Tell everybody I love them because I don’t know if I'll get that chance again."

After the ceremony, the casket was carried by several soldiers to the Manomet Cemetery behind the church for burial.

Sergeant Brandon T. Islip, 23, of Richmond, the other soldier who disappeared in the river, still has not been found.