Army paratrooper Benjamin Sherman probably died the way he lived, his wife said, doing whatever he could to help someone in need.

Military divers on Tuesday found the body of Spc. Sherman about a week after he and another soldier disappeared as they tried to recover air-dropped supplies from a river in western Afghanistan, NATO officials said.

"Ben was an amazing guy," a tearful Patricia Sherman said Wednesday from their home near Fort Bragg, N.C., where she is expecting their first child in four months. "He was very outgoing, he gave the world his all for everybody, absolutely everybody. He would stop what he was doing and go help somebody who was in need."

The 21-year-old Plymouth, Mass., native loved baseball, football and basketball, loved taking time on the weekend to hit golf balls at the driving range, and loved any kind of raucous rock music with a lead singer who screamed instead of sang, his wife said.

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"At first, he was a Yankees fan," said Bill Sherman, his father. "But I changed him into a Red Sox fan. He was also a big Patriots fan."

His son would regularly phone family members from Afghanistan, his father said. "I would love to tell him one more time that I love him," he said.

Sherman and the other American, from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, went missing Nov. 4 in Badghis province, a remote area that borders Turkmenistan. The Taliban maintains a strong presence in the area, but local police had said the two were swept away by the river as they tried to recover the supplies.

Afghan and international forces are still searching for the second missing paratrooper.

The Pentagon has not publicly released the names of either soldier.

Patricia Sherman said she was told by military officials that the incident remains under investigation, but the family thinks Spc. Sherman died trying to rescue his friend, because that's the kind of person he was.

"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 couple first met at a birthday party when they were both 6 years old, then started dating in the eighth-grade after a mutual friend reintroduced them, Patricia Sherman said. Her husband played football and the drums in a rock band while attending Plymouth South High School, while she attended Plymouth North.

Spc. Sherman is also survived by another sister, his mother, Denise Sherman of Plymouth, and father, William Sherman of Fairhaven.

Plans are still pending, but Patricia Sherman said a memorial service and burial will be held in Plymouth.