Edward Haskell Sherman was born at Boston Lying-in Hospital (now Brigham and Women's Hospital) in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts on September 6, 1917. His parents were Samuel William Sherman (25 Aug 1885 Jul 1966), who was born at Vitebsk, Soviet Russia (now Belarus) and immigrated to America about 1904; and Cecelia (Hoffman) Sherman (called Celia) (abt 1888 unk), who was born in Romania and immigrated to America about 1902. His parents married at Boston, Massachusetts on February 14, 1911, and lived initially at 41 North Russell Street in the Charlestown section of Boston. His father became a naturalized US citizen on April 24, 1911. His father was a tailor, and his mother was a dressmaker.
The family lived at various places in the Boston area. By 1930 the family home was at 159 Columbia Road, Boston. His parents divorced by 1940, and he lived with his mother in the home of his brother, Bernard Herbert Sherman (7 Feb 1912 14 Jun 1980), at 43 Wenonah Street in the Roxbury section of Boston. He completed four years of high school (1940 US Census says four years of college) and worked for a supply company as a buyer or department head of a store. He registered for the draft at Newton, Massachusetts on October 16, 1940. He was six feet one inch tall, weighed 190 pounds, and had hazel eyes and brown hair. He was married when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Boston, Massachusetts on October 13, 1942.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on September 30, 1944. He was then assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Leon R. Milner. The crew completed operational training in the States, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Milner crew arrived at Station 137 by February 7, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On April 8, 1945, Lt Milner's crew led the Low Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Hof, Germany. Lt Tony Bamberg flew in the copilot position as Air Leader, and Flight Officer Swan, the copilot, moved to the tail gun position as officer tail gunner and formation observer. Lt Sherman and four of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft, B-17G 44-8547, was shot down by flak just after bombs away over Hof. The ship received a direct flak hit near the right wing, and probably another in the tail. F/O Swan may have been wounded and unable to bail out from the tail. Lieutenants Sherman, Milner, Bamberg, and Schramm were in the nose trying to bail out when the aircraft exploded and crashed near Heinersgrόn, about 12 kilometers northeast of Hof. Four men bailed out and survived as prisoners of war.
The bodies of the five casualties were not recovered until September 24, 1952. They were buried first at the Mausoleum in Frankfurt, Germany. The remains could not be individually identified. They were returned to the United States and reinterred in a group burial at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri on April 30, 1953.
B-17G 44-8547 crew:
Milner, Leon R 1/Lt Pilot KIA
Bamberg, Tony O 1/Lt Air Leader KIA
Sherman, Edward H 2/Lt Navigator KIA
Schramm, Elmer J 2/Lt Bombardier KIA
Wechsler, Stanley J 1/Lt Mickey Operator POW
Bellow, Irving S/Sgt Engineer POW
Jackson, John A T/Sgt Radio Operator POW
Bullion, Bobby J S/Sgt Waist Gunner POW
Swan, Clement E F/O Officer Tail Gunner KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com