A meaningful tribute to fallen soldiers, on Google Earth

I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but one of the most moving tributes to fallen American servicemen and women you can see this Memorial Day is a layer on Google Earth. Map the Fallen shows you the hometowns and places of death of the more than 5,000 soldiers lost in Afghanistan and Iraq to date. Rather than being a crass and hollow tribute, Map the Fallen represents each of these people as more than a statistic or an icon on a map.

When you're zoomed out, those clusters of little icons do a good job of visualizing the sheer magnitude of the human sacrifice involved in war. Clicking on each of those icons shows details about each person, aggregated from several different sites that have been documenting the casualties. As a geek, I can't think of a more fitting way to honor each one of these people for their service. It's both educational and emotional.

Tags: google, google-earth, map-the-fallen, memorial-day, military, war