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Military divers have found the body of a U.S. paratrooper who disappeared last week along with another soldier as the two tried to retrieve airdropped supplies from a river in western Afghanistan, NATO said Wednesday.
Relatives said they believe Spc. Benjamin Sherman of Plymouth, Mass., died after jumping into the river to try to save his comrade, who was also swept away by the current.
Afghan and international forces are still searching for the second missing paratrooper in the remote, Taliban-infested province of Badghis, which borders Turkmenistan. He has not been identified.
Sherman's wife, Patricia, said military officials told her that the circumstances of his death remain under investigation, but his family believes Spc. Sherman died trying to rescue his friend.
"I know that day he jumped into the river to try to save his comrade was not because he didn't just see another soldier in the water, he saw his brother," said his sister, Meredith Sherman. "He didn't jump in because he was trained to, but because that's what his heart told him to do."
The two paratroopers, both from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, disappeared Nov. 4 in the Bala Barghab area of Badghis during a routine resupply mission. Local police had said the two were swept away by the river as they tried to recover airdropped supplies that had accidentally fallen into the water.
During the first days of the search, intense fighting broke out with militants in the area. Eight Afghans — four soldiers, three policemen and an interpreter — were killed, while 17 Afghan troops and five American soldiers were wounded.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry had said at the time that the deaths and injuries had been caused by "an air attack by NATO forces" during the fighting. NATO has said authorities are investigating whether some of the casualties were caused by a friendly fire airstrike.
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