I combed through every US service member killed fighting America's wars abroad in 2017 for whom the Pentagon released a casualty statement. Here’s what I found, and what it means about what is coming next under the Trump administration. /1 buzzfeed.com/verabergengrue…
The Pentagon's publicly available numbers for US troops killed abroad are confusing, overlapping, don’t add up, and for special forces often don't exist at all. In response to my questions about data, I was told to type "casualty" into the search box of DoD's site. So I did. /2 
Here is where US troops died in combat in 2017. These places may indicate what lies ahead under the Trump administration, which has granted the US military greater authority than its predecessors had to act without consulting leaders in Washington /3 
15 of the 33 US troops killed in war zones this year died in Afghanistan, as the longest war in American history enters its 17th year. As part of his new strategy - to “fight to win” - Trump sent 3,000 more troops there. /4 cnn.com/2017/08/21/pol…
At least five US troops in Afghanistan may have been killed by their own side, and were investigated as friendly fire incidents. On June 10, these three men were killed when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on them. /5 
Special ops troops are bearing the brunt of casualties, dying at higher rates than conventional forces, even though they make up only 5% of the US military. Last year, for the first time, more commandos died than conventional forces /6 
In 2017, US special forces served in 143 countries, or nearly three quarters of the nations in the world. 8,000 US special forces are currently deployed — up from 2,900 in 2001. Their commander told Congress this tempo is unsustainable /7 mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
High-profile combat deaths in Yemen, Niger, and Somalia this year led to the first realization for many Americans — and some members of Congress (!!) — that hundreds of US troops were fighting in those countries. /8 cnn.com/2017/10/23/pol…
At least five US troops were killed in action serving in US Africa Command this year - the same # that died fighting ISIS as part of @CJTFOIR. That includes the first US death in Somalia since infamous Black Hawk Down incident in 1993. /9 
For the first time in six years, the number of US troops who died in war zones rose in 2017. This year 33 were killed fighting abroad compared to 26 last year. Military Times did this analysis last month /10 militarytimes.com/news/your-mili…
On a human level – this list means that 24 children lost their fathers this year, fighting US wars abroad. /11 buzzfeed.com/verabergengrue…
It was incredibly sobering to read every single story from their hometown papers about who they left behind, getting longer the older they were. The youngest casualty was just 19, and hadn’t really started his life yet. /12 frontiersman.com/news/wasilla-s…
