Photographing the Fallen: A Brief History

Afghanistan
At Ramstein air base in Germany, a member of the honor guard adjusts the flag covering the casket of Chief Petty Officer Matthew J. Bourgeois, a 14-year Navy SEAL veteran. Bourgeois, who had been conducting small-unit training at an abandoned al Qaeda base near Kandahar, Afghanistan, was killed when he stepped on a landmine on March 27, 2002. He was the 31st member of the U.S. military to die as part of the war on terror and only the second SEAL. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart.

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