\u201cThe fallen \u2014 they are more than just a name,\u201d Sherman told the Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a story behind that name,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cThere was love, there was hope, there were dreams, there were families. There were mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives and children, and those loved ones are still left today dealing with the tragedy that they may have occurred years ago. And every day for them is Memorial Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After losing multiple friends in combat and suicide due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder<\/a>, Sherman said he was left with feelings of guilt and was diagnosed with PTSD while still active duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he was undergoing treatment for PTSD in 2018, Sherman started developing plans to visit the hometowns of those he knew who had died and meet with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also connected on LinkedIn with Kristine Flores, a producer for NBC Bay Area in San Jose, California. A Gold Star sibling herself, Flores was intrigued by the project and she now assists Sherman remotely as a producer for Gold Star Dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomething that I come across as being a Gold Star family member for the last 14 years…is that not a lot of people know what a Gold Star family is,\u201d Flores told the Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGold Star families just want their loved ones to be remembered,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd so, by collecting their stories, we\u2019re honoring the sacrifice and the legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flores said she and Sherman started brainstorming ideas for the project starting in February 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe more we started talking and brainstorming, we decided that, why stop there?\u201d Flores said. \u201cWhy not open it up, and if we\u2019re going to do the project, do it big. It just evolved into \u2018why don\u2019t we go to every 50 states?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By August 2018, Gold Star Dirt was recognized as a nonprofit organization and Sherman conducted his first interview in Colorado in September 2018. Sherman was on terminal leave at that point, just ahead of his retirement from the Navy in October 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Library of Congress confirmed to the Military Times that Gold Star Dirt was collecting stories as part of the Gold Star Family Voices Act that was passed in 2016. The Library of Congress said Sherman submitted 20 Gold Star oral histories in June, and is expected to submit another 30 to represent all 50 states before the project wraps up in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some Gold Star families, this is the first time they\u2019ve opened up about their loss with a member of the media, or someone working on a project like Sherman is. Linda Dillon, whose son Army Cpl. Benjamin Dillon<\/a> was killed in Iraq in October 2007 after insurgents attacked his unit, said she didn\u2019t speak to reporters about her son\u2019s death when he first died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prospect of talking to Sherman made her a little apprehensive as he visited more states and started to approach her home state of Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt kind of scared me as he got closer…because I know that this has been 11 years since Ben was killed, but wow \u2014 it is still just as hard to talk about it,\u201d Dillon told the Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbsolutely, I\u2019ve had just some amazing things happen in our lives since Ben, so it was good for me to have to do that, but hard,\u201d Dillon said about her interview with Sherman. \u201cAnd I know every parent has to feel that same way, sharing that story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dillon, who said her family has utilized the Library of Congress to learn about their family\u2019s history, said the project is an example of how the fallen will always be remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a military family, and Ben being a Ranger, that\u2019s what they talk about the most \u2014 that you can never forget,\u201d Dillon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of the major pieces that they promise us when they join the military, that they will never be forgotten. Memorial Day, Veterans Day \u2014 that\u2019s the purpose of all those [days],\u201d Dillon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Benjamin Dillon, 22, was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning in Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/54522616_2278365835584144_5252549779564527616_n.jpg.jpg\")
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