Google Earth tribute to Iraq and Afghanistan dead

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 26 May 2009 at 09:44

A Google developer has created a virtual memorial to more than 5,700 servicemen and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Map The Fallen project is an interactive layer for the Google Earth software.

The project provides a brief life history of the thousands of fallen soldiers, marking their hometown and the location of their death on the Google globe.

Clicking on any of the landmarks reveals a mini-biogragphy, with photos, details of how they died and other interactive elements, such as slideshows created by the servicemen's family.

Map The Fallen includes a timeline that shows how the death toll has gradually increased since the beginning of the conflicts in 2001, with markers for the dead gradually filling the map.

The map was created by Google Earth developer Sean Askay, who completed Map The Fallen in the "20% time" that Google allows staff to work on their own projects, and during his own time.

He gleaned the information on the servicemen from a variety of online sources, including Ministry of Defence press releases and various memorial websites.

"I recognise that this map is just a slice of the story in these conflicts," Askay acknowledges on his blog. "The Iraqi and Afghani people have incurred substantial civilian losses through these wars; there are also US and Coalition civilians, contractors, and reporters who have died as well.

"For this project, I've chosen to focus on the US and Coalition military casualties, but I recognise that the losses extend beyond what is mapped in this project. I also understand that there could be inaccuracies in this layer, and I'll be adding a method for submitting corrections very shortly."