2,000 dead: Mother mourns ‘grim milestone’ in Afghanistan

Nonetheless, they were brothers, casualties in what has become America’s longest war.

“I just sat here,” said Lisa Freeman, “reliving the pain and wondering: Where is America’s outrage? Where is America’s concern that we’re still at war?”

“I walk around this country and look in faces that don’t even know we’re at war anymore. People that are going about their everyday lives, not realizing that they’ve been kept safe by this amazing group of young men and women who have been willing to sacrifice so much.”

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Matthew Freeman was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, in the summer of 2009 when a resurgent Taliban began retaking areas once thought pacified. When officers asked for volunteers to shore up the thin lines, the young pilot with the striking blue eyes stepped forward.

Barely two weeks into his deployment, Freeman and a fire support team set out to do reconnaissance in the Shpee Valley when they came under almost immediate enemy attack.

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Joshua Welle was president of the Annapolis Class of 2002. But there were 980 midshipmen, and though he had heard of Freeman, he did not know him — until after his death.

Welle, is lead editor of a new book, “In the Shadow of Greatness: Voices of Leadership, Sacrifice, and Service from America’s Longest War.” Of the Class of 2002, four have died in combat, one lost both legs, and another won the Silver Star.

As he crisscrosses the country, Welle senses that “the American people have fatigue” about the war in Afghanistan. It has become part of his mission to remind them why our troops are still there, that the war serves to protect the United States. “Americans need to have a long view,” he says. “… I don’t think we can look at the wounds of battle in a body count and a death toll.”

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Proceeds from the book help causes to make a difference in the lives of Afghan War vets, including the Challenged Athlete Foundation’s Operation Rebound, a sports and fitness program for wounded veterans and first responders.

Wounded veterans like Daniel Riley.

On Dec. 16, 2010, Cpl. Riley and his infantry squad, on a dismounted patrol to clear an Afghan compound, had found and disarmed a few IEDs when Riley felt the earth give, ever so slightly, beneath his right boot. “The one thing you know in Afghanistan is that, if you’re not on solid ground, you’re not in a good place,” he says. “The minute that ground gave out a little bit, I just swore in my head and I knew exactly what had happened.”

Buried beneath a “pressure plate” was a fuel can filled with ammonium nitrate — the same explosive mix used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Riley blacked out “for a split second, but woke up flying in the air.”

The blast took off both of Riley’s legs, just above the knee, and three fingers on his left hand. He had about a week left on his deployment.

“I was, excuse the pun, I was one foot out the door,” he says with a laugh. “It was probably on one of the last patrols I would have done in my deployment.”

After more than a year and a half of recovery and rehab, Riley was medically retired from the Marine Corps this summer.

Learning to walk on his prosthetic legs was “like kicking a soccer ball in a swimming pool.”

He’s 27 now, living in San Diego, and though he supports the war, he understands the frustration of many who want it to end. “I’ve seen both sides of it,” he says. “I’ve seen good being done. I’ve seen kids going to school, roads being built, bridges being built — that kind of thing. I’ve also seen a bad side of it. You see seemingly an endless war where you’re continually fighting, and it’s hard to see progress.

“… I mean, one casualty or 2,000 casualties,” he says. “You know, it’s numbers.”

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The 2,000th casualty occurred at a lonely Afghan Army checkpoint.

According to Afghan officials, Metcalfe and his squad were on foot patrol when the checkpoint came under insurgent attack. Believing they were being fired on by Afghan allies, Metcalfe and the others also attacked the checkpoint, the officials said.

Metcalfe, a civilian contractor and at least two Afghan soldiers died in the firefight. The Pentagon is investigating.

Metcalfe, a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, was an 11-year veteran and was on his third deployment. He leaves a wife and four children, aged 11 months to 12 years.

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Two days before his death, Freeman called his mother back in Georgia. He told her all about the friendly locals, and how cute the children were.

“The kids would rather have pens and paper more than anything,” he said. “Even food or water.”