Google Earth charts human cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars with 'map of fallen'

[The Straight Story]

Google Earth charts human cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars with 'map of fallen'

He has developed a feature that allows browsers to see the each of the 5,700 coalition troops represented by a yellow pin connecting their home town to the spot where they died.

Visitors can view photos of the soldiers, find out how they died and pay their respects in a guest book using Google Earth 5, which is free to download.

The map, which includes details of British service personnel, contains links to obituaries and memorial sites for the war heroes, with messages from families and friends.

Google engineer Sean Askay sourced data from the first death – on October 10 2001 – up until March this year.

Based in San Francisco, California, Mr Askay spent four years creating Map The Fallen. He wrote on his blog: "It's important to remember that each of these servicemen and women has a rich story."

The blog explained the project used information collected from a number of sources, including the US Department of Defense's Statistical Information Analysis Division, icasualties.org and other similar websites.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/5391786/Google-Earth-charts-human-cost-of-Iraq-and-Afghanistan-wars-with-map-of-fallen.html