When a 20-year-old Wyoming soldier was among the last U.S. casualties in the Afghanistan war, it released one of the biggest outpourings of grief and sympathy since a 20-year-old Wyoming soldier was among the war’s first casualties.
       Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum of Jackson was among 13 U-s soldiers killed in a suicide bombing Aug. 26 at the Kabul airport. Online donations for McCollum’s widow and their unborn child totaled some half-a-million dollars.
      Almost two decades earlier, Army Ranger Spc. Jonn Edmunds of Cheyenne died in a helicopter crash., bringing his family hundreds of cards and messages of sympathy and praise for his dedicated service
In between, almost 2,500 U.S. troops died in the conflict – most with far less attention than the two Wyoming men received.