2,717,991 is the number of US war casualties since 1775 (death in combat or by war or military deployment)*.
The night before the burial of her husband’s body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of ‘Cat,’ and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. ‘I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it,’ she said. ‘I think that’s what he would have wanted.’
See the whole series here.
Also see this NYT article about the series.
*74 of those, incidentally, were sustained during our first war in the ”Middle East” (North Africa/Mediterranean)… Which began in 1801 (not-coincidentally-coinciding with the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson). Refusal to pay tribute to the Barbary pirates was one circumstance that led to the formation of the US Navy.
Also note: in 2011, I had a similar post. The structure was identical, but the title number was much smaller, even though in the body I cited it as “the number of casualties”, even though the title referred only to the number of dead. That number has risen not just by this mistake, but because of actual casualties.