I was dismayed and offended that Stars and Stripes ran on the Aug. 30 front page a graphic comparing casualty statistics from the Department of Defense and third-party groups, titling it “When will the grim milestone [of 2,000 U.S. deaths in Afghanistan] be reached?”

Stars and Stripes readers — many of whom are fighting in Afghanistan — turn to this newspaper for in-depth reporting about the war and its impact on the lives of servicemembers, veterans and their families. To have this paper feature an insensitive graphic that reduces the decadelong conflict into a question of statistics is a slap in the face to all those who have put their lives on the line for this country.

Our fallen servicemembers are not numbers. They are heroes, and Stars and Stripes did them a great disservice by featuring such a callous graphic in the way it did.

The DOD takes care to report the names of every fallen hero following notification of next of kin. Their names and biographical information are available at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/main.xhtml.