The Final Trip Home of Pfc. Aaron Toppen

On June 9, 2014, during a security operation in southern Afghanistan, a unit of U.S. and Afghan soldiers was hit by a friendly fire airstrike, killing five Americans and one Afghan. One of the Americans was 19-year-old Private First Class Aaron Toppen, of Mokena, Illinois. A series of memorials and transfers then began, to return his body home to the U.S. for burial -- a sequence of events carried out some 2,200 times since the start of the war in Afghanistan. Once his remains arrived in Chicago, Getty Images photographer Scott Olson stayed with the family through the processions, visitations, services, and burial, documenting the final journey of one of the most recent soldiers to have died in Afghanistan. Pfc. Toppen, who had always wanted to join the Army, signed on last July, and had only arrived in Afghanistan this March. Today's entry is part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Read more
Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • Arun Thakur / AFP / Getty

    Photos of the Week: Bull Vault, Buddha Wash, Bass Guitar

    A diving championship in England, Darth Vader on trial in Chile, Manhattanhenge in New York City, a graduation ceremony at West Point, ongoing floods in northern Italy, and much more

  • Kin Cheung / AP

    The 2023 Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling Race

    Images of racers running and tumbling down a very steep hill—in pursuit of cheese

  • Martin Meissner / AP

    Photos of the Week: Double Ducks, Thirsty Monkey, Island Cathedral

    The Chelsea Flower Show in England, a scarecrow fair in Italy, a mountain-bike race in Bolivia, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia, the Cannes Film Festival in France, and much more

  • Libkos / AP

    Photos: Ukraine’s Battlefield Drones

    Images of some of the many small drones being used on Ukraine’s battlefields