Anthony Lee Sherman was born on May 11, 1960 to Cecil and Claire Sherman at the former Valley Forge Military Hospital in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. His  parents initially gave him the middle name “Scott” but on the way home from the hospital,  realized his initials may be a burden to him, so they changed his middle name to “Lee”.  Cecil was from Hartley, Iowa; Claire was from Philadelphia. Tony was their only child. Cecil served in the Navy, consequently the family lived at various different areas around the country as he was reassigned to different commands.

The family moved back to Philadelphia, where Tony spent most of his time at Claire’s sister Joan and brother in law, Bob’s home.

His mother attended Nursing School in Philadelphia and graduated as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse). Shortly after her graduation, she fell from a bicycle, collapsed into Tony’s arms, and died of a ruptured brain aneurysm.

After the death of his mother, Tony and his father moved back to Hartley, Iowa. Tony attended Hartley High School from which he graduated in 1978. Tony was a triathlete, and loved running, which he continued throughout his life. (The Triathlon is an event of running, swimming, cycling).

Tony liked the Philadelphia area, so he moved back east, staying with his aunt Joan and uncle Bob. He enlisted in the Army the same year.

Tony was 5 foot 10, athletic, bald (can grass grow on a busy street?) very intelligent, had a wacky sense of humor (he loved the three stooges and practical jokes), but knew when to be serious. He was a bit on the quiet side in large groups, (partially due to a loss of hearing from a ruptured eardrum during basic training). He was an avid reader, loved history, especially military, and international relations.

Tony was deployed to Germany for several years and enjoyed life in Europe. He was part of a  medical brigade at this time and rode shotgun with the ambulances from the Red Cross. On one memorable occasion, he and his partner found themselves in communist Poland because they had been reading the map upside down!

Tony also participated in the liberation of Grenada in 1983, Operation Urgent Fury. His medical unit was one of the last to make landfall. His mission was to locate sources of potable water. With water testing equipment in hand, Tony and two other soldiers began their search. They heard a rustling in the bushes and suddenly a Grenadan jumped out brandishing a rifle, and yelling in his native language, which Tony’s group could not understand. Tony and his men only had side arms.

Tony slowly approached the man and tried to find out what he wanted. As Tony came closer, the man appeared to calm down somewhat and, by the time Tony was standing beside him, he shoved the rifle into Tony’s hands and began waving his arms in the air. Apparently, he was surrendering! Tony and his comrades brought their “prisoner” back to camp with them, much to the surprise of his unit.

Tony returned to the states and back to the Delaware Valley. He chose not to “reup” but continued his service in the Reserves. It was then that he met the woman who would become his wife.

Tony felt that he would most likely never marry. He had never been especially lucky with the ladies and figured he’d eventually become a crusty old bachelor. Trying his luck one final time, he joined the Single Booklovers Club. SBC was something new – finding a potential mate through being a pen pal. As it happened, about 45 minutes distant in Pottstown, the woman he would marry joined the club, 4 months later, in May 1988. Tony and Lisa Ann Droege began exchanging letters, and eventually phone numbers. They agreed to meet at the King of Prussia Mall for their first face to face meeting. They enjoyed each others company and lost track of time, Tony had missed the last bus back to Philadelphia, but Lisa volunteered to drive him home.

Tony began his college studies at Villanova University, later transferring to Temple. He graduated with a degree in Education, with a minor in Psychology, in 1989.  In May 1989 Tony asked Lisa to marry him, and they were married on September 8, 1990 and moved into a condo on Manatawny Street in Pottstown. Tony joined the Pottstown Pacers Running Club, and attended St. Peter’s Church in town.

In 1991, Tony and Lisa traveled to Europe with a tour group for their anniversary. They wanted to see the newly liberated East Germany, a year after the wall was torn down. It was fascinating, - amusing in spots and sobering in others, the devastation from 45 years of communist rule. There were beautiful sites in the midst of the poverty-stricken areas; an element of upper class frequented the concert halls and restaurants, while on the other side of town burnt out Trabies (very small East German manufactured economy automobiles) littered the side streets and backyards. Rats ran about in the hotel lobbies, and the showerheads in the hotel rooms rained down on your head even when the water didn’t!

Tony and Lisa, both fluent in German, spent a lot of time translating for the group.

Throughout their courtship, Tony had been employed by the Presbyterian Children’s Village, a private residential school for juveniles who were wards of the state, in Rosemont, PA. He started as a residential aid, then receiving his degree at Temple, became a teacher of government, history, geography and upper level mathematics.

Their son, Anthony Grant was born on October 4, 1994, with bilateral cleft of lip and palate. Grant underwent a number of surgeries at Children’s hospital in Philadelphia. Grant also had a severe hearing impairment necessitating dual hearing aids, and was later diagnosed with a level of autism. Lisa, who worked as a software librarian, at Moore Products Company in Spring House Montgomery County, resigned to stay home and care for their son.

There was little protection for teachers from the students at Children’s Village, and on one occasion, a female student upset with her teacher, Tony; physically attacked him in the classroom, and a number of other students joined in. Even though Tony trained to protect himself by the military, he was not allowed to strike back regardless of the beating. Despite the onslaught, he kept his cool and did not strike back. By the time other teachers heard the alarm and came to his rescue, Tony was badly beaten. During Tony’s recovery, he decided to resign. Moore Products hired him, as they had not found a replacement for Lisa.

Tony’s civilian and military pay supported the family, as Lisa continued to care for Grant, obtaining the medical and education services their son needed.

At three different times during Grant’s infancy, Tony was deployed. He had serious concerns about whether his son would learn to bond with him and if Grant would even remember him when he returned home. Tony deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina, and later to Kosovo. When he returned home from the latter, Grant rushed to greet his Daddy at the airport. Grant was now bonding with his father, in “guy things” that he did not want to do with anyone else but his father.

Tony also pursued his education. He attended Arcadia University in Glenside (near Jenkintown) from 1999 to 2002, graduating with distinction with a master’s in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. His Master’s Thesis was titled: “Justice for Kosovo”.

Tony was again deployed, this time to the Iraq Theater, with the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade. He kissed Lisa and Grant goodbye on February 13, 2003.

Tony’s dream car was a Ford Woody station wagon. But the closest car to his dream was a Chrysler PT Cruiser Woody in Cranberry/Purple. His wife bought it for him as a surprise while he was deployed in Iraq. She took photos of Grant sitting behind the wheel.

In August, he called her to let her know he had secured a flight home for 2 weeks of R & R just in time for their 13th Wedding anniversary.

Four days before he was due to arrive home, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Lee Sherman died of a massive heart attack. Attempts to revive him failed.

Tony was buried in the St. Aloysius New Cemetery on Buchert Road in the heart of Pottstown, PA on September 6, 2003, two days before his 13th wedding anniversary. He was buried with full military honors. Grant “inspected” the honor guard prior to the viewing, presenting himself before each member of the guard, looked each soldier up and down and nodded in approval before moving on to the next in line.

Tony’s fellow soldiers paid their respects to Lisa when they returned home. They informed her that the conditions they lived under were harsh and not conducive to optimum health. Intense heat, high stress levels, poor nutrition. They said the “silver lining” to their cloud, had disappeared when Tony died. He was the one they all looked to for encouragement, when they felt they couldn’t continue. Their “cheerleader” was gone and the lights went out the day Tony died.

One of the most difficult things Lisa had to do was attempt to explain to her autistic son that his daddy was “up in the clouds in Heaven with God”, and that Daddy’s now your guardian angel who can see you from up in the sky and love you even though you can’t see him”.

Each time Lisa and Grant attend a military function and Grant sees the men and women in uniform he scans the ranks looking for a Daddy who’s no longer there. There are tears and fearfulness, and a grieving process continues that only Grant can understand because he cannot speak to anyone of his feelings. There’s a separation anxiety factor in play now with Grant: Lisa cannot be away for too long without his going in search of her. Grant has stopped hoarding all the photographs of his Daddy. There are special pictures of Tony and Grant around the house, that Grant likes to look at, so don’t ever try to take them off the wall even to dust them!