America’s lengthy roster of war dead began with 25,000 lost establishing our nation in the Revolutionary War, the first believed to be Crispus Attucks in the Boston Massacre of 1770. That was followed by 20,000 in the War of 1812 and 13,000 in the Mexican War in the 19th century. Another 600,000-plus fell on both sides in the Civil War, the nation’s bloodiest conflict by far, followed by 2,000 in the Spanish-American War to close the century.
Our Views: They were ordinary yet heroic
America's fallen service members didnt choose to die for a cause, but their sacrifice lives on
