1,000 U.S. lives lost in Operation Enduring Freedom

By some counts the United States has lost more than 1,000 lives in Operation Enduring Freedom ? the umbrella term for the war in Afghanistan. The latest casualty according to the Department of Defense brings their count to the cusp of 1000. Staff Sgt. William S. Ricketts, 27, from Corinth, Miss. was killed when insurgents attacked his unit in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan last week. But there is a name, and a story behind each number.

We’re reflecting on what that number 1000 means with Pat Marek, who lost her 21 year-old son, Corporal Matthew A. Commons, in 2002. Commons was one of the first U.S. troops killed during the war in Afghanistan.