Earlier this week we received some information about a new CNN.com site that honors our fallen troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. I immediately thought how convenient and timely for a Memorial Day post. But after taking some time to look through the newest addition I must say it is so much more than that. I'm not only blown away but the volume of work that went into this but also very moved by CNN's touching tribute. Please take a few minutes this Memorial Day weekend and navigate through the site as a way of honoring and paying tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom. After all that is what Memorial Day is all about. 
CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq Wars with Launch of “Home and Away”
Continuing to develop innovative ways to present its audience with news and information, CNN is combining the unparalleled strengths of its on-air and online platforms to honor every Coalition Forces casualty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
CNN.com has launched “Home and Away,” an immersive interactive which allows users to learn about and pay tribute to more than 6,000 fallen troops from more than 20 countries.
“Each of these casualties has an inspiring and moving story, and we wanted to find an exceptional way to honor the sacrifice every single one of them made,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “We hope ‘Home and Away’ serves as an enduring memorial for those that made the ultimate sacrifice while also helping the CNN audience more personally connect with this deeply complex topic.”
“We were so moved by the powerful stories of these service members and those who loved them along the way,” said Michelle Jaconi, Executive Producer, John King, USA. “Our CNN.com colleagues have created a powerful tool that allows us to more deeply engage with our viewers, connecting them to personal tributes from the fallen's family and friends."
This extensive data visualization project began nearly 10 years ago at the start of the war in Afghanistan. A cross-divisional effort between the CNN Library and CNN.com, a team of researchers, producers, designers, user-experience specialists and developers have gathered information about the casualties of the wars. Evolving from two separate lists of casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, “Home and Away” tells the story of where and how the lives of these troops began and ended, and is continually enhanced with personal memories from family and friends.
Users can search for casualties across several different criteria, including last name, age hometown, location of death and date of death. More detail about the life of each casualty is featured on a personal memorial page, as well as memories from family and friends shared through iReport, CNN’s user-generated news community. Users may share iReport tributes for any service member directly from their memorial page.
There are interactive maps of the US that list fatalities in both Afghanistan and Iraq. As you move your cursor over the States names of those who have passed are shown.
Here's the map for those that have died in Afghanistan:
And for those who lost their lives in Iraq:
There are also interactive maps of Afghanistan and Iraq that illustrate how many lives were lost in which districts/regions of the country.
Again, I urge you to take some time and navigate through 'Home and Away'. I don't think you will regret it. Have a safe Memorial Day. ~Phebe
4 comments:
I've looked at the site before and was surprised at how extensive it was. Its a good informative site.
Maureen Dowd has written an OP ED piece in this Sunday's NYT that is a must read for those interested in Obama's lack of outrage from the oil spill catastophe to bank regulation. His "No drama Obama," appeal is wearing thin to those who need for the man who could most inspire, to finally use his inspiration when it matters most, like consoling those in NOLA for more than an alloted amount of time and treating the spill as just an "inconvenience" that was not on his agenda.
Memorial Day, is for the rememberance of those who died in order to serve our country and President Obama has to be reminded that instead of making this a family holiday, he should have used a part of it to pay tribute to the fallen veterans in Arlington's National Cememtary.
Now there's a photo op we all might find endearing.
Thanks Phebe for the info online.
Thank you so much for reminding us, Phebe.
@Judy -
I have to politely disagree with you about President Obama's lack of outrage from the oil spill. It's part of his demeanor, and I would rather see action than outrage. I'm hoping for more action. Outrage is easy, action is a little harder sometimes.
With regard to President Obama and Memorial Day -- I happen to know he is scheduled to attend services at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Cemetery - about 50 miles outside Chicago. VP Biden will be at Arlington. President Obama is not the first President to miss a Memorial Day service at Arlington National Cemetery.
Reagan, 1983 didn't go NOR did he send his VP. He sent his Dep. Sec of Def. while at a summit.
G. H. Bush, 1992 sent Quayle while he was on vaca - (Bush Sr. showed up at a ceremony at an American Legion Hall in Kennebunkport, laid a wreath there and said a few words, also took in some golf)
G. W. Bush, 2007 sent Cheney to Arlington Cemetery, Bush was in Texas and honored U.S. troops at a ceremony in Waco - a hop skip & a jump from Crawford.
I haven't seen the OP ED piece in the NYT, but out of fair and just reporting, I hope they mentioned the above.
I will be attending Memorial Day services at the cemetery where my parents and several family members are buried. It's a tradition from my childhood and childhood was MANY years ago. I'm not sure it's important where one pays tribute, but rather that one does pay tribute. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the "Thanks" on yesterday's post. It's nice to be appreciated.
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