Memorial Day 2018
Today is the 17th Memorial Day since 9/11. Since then, 6,940 U.S. military service members have died for America.
Why it matters: Every part of the country has lost soldiers to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All were Americans — someone's neighbor, child, parent, mentor, buddy.
Their average age was between 26 and 27 years old.
The big picture: The losses have not been distributed evenly. Several parishes in southern Louisiana, for instance, have suffered a disproportionate number of soldiers killed since 9/11. Of the five places with the most military deaths per population, three — Tangipahoa Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish, and Calcasieu Parish — are in Louisiana.
Many of the dead came from big cities — 167 hailed from Los Angeles County, the most of any county. Others came from more remote places, like Mineral County, Colo., population 732, home to Sgt. Clinton Wayne Ahlquist, who was killed in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Feb. 20, 2007, at the age of 23. Of all U.S. counties, Mineral County has the highest rate of servicemembers killed in proportion to population.
