African American WWII Veteran Marks History

Stephen Sherman, an 88-year-old World War II veteran, salutes during the National Anthem. (Dan Morse - The Washington Post)

By Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 18, 2009; 11:37 PM
Standing among music fans one-fourth his age on the Mall on Sunday, Stephen Sherman stood out -- all 5-feet, 8-inches of him.

"I never met a stranger before in my life," said the 88-year-old African American World War II veteran, posing for pictures and proudly telling of the events in his life that brought him to the mall today. Under his leather jacket: A uniform top Sherman said was from World War II, adorned with five metals from the war.

"I can still button it, but it's like a corset," he said.

Sherman grew up as one of 12 children in the only African American family in a small Colorado town. He served in a segregated unit in the war. More recently, volunteering for the Obama campaign, Sherman said he made more than 1,000 calls from California to voters in Colorado.