Overview
- Sher, 22, was killed on Aug. 20, 1943, when his P-40 crashed and burned in a rice paddy at Xin Bai Village near Hengyang, Hunan province.
- U.S. recovery teams located aircraft wreckage and human remains at the site in 2024, and lab testing matched DNA provided by his nephew.
- The Army classified him as unrecoverable in 1947, after villagers had marked the crash site with a memorial stone and his mother received his Purple Heart.
- He was buried on Dec. 14, 2025, in Greenville, South Carolina, with Jewish rites including a Star of David on the casket, stones on the headstone, and soil from Israel placed on the grave.
- Sher flew with the 76th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, in the 14th Air Force, escorting bombers in China as part of the Flying Tigers and recording three aerial victories.