The United States suffered through the worst terror attack in its history on Sept. 11, 2001. From the Pentagon and the World Trade Center to a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the attacks left 3,400 people dead. The events of that day also spawned a new era in U.S. foreign policy – one that would lead to thousands more American deaths in the coming decades.

Less than one month after the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terror began when the U.S. and NATO allies started military strikes in Afghanistan. Then, in 2003, the War on Terror escalated further, when the U.S. launched an invasion of Iraq.

Though the ongoing War on Terror achieved several goals, including the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and regime change in Iraq, the results came at a steep price. Since the first American was killed in Afghanistan in October 2001, nearly 6,900 Americans – serving in military, intelligence, and civilian capacities – from all 50 states have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A reported 218 people from Georgia died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the last two decades, accounting for 3.2% of all deaths among the 50 states. Of those deaths, 144 were connected to the war in Iraq and the remaining 74 to the war in Afghanistan. Not all those reported as killed in these wars died in combat situations. Some of the deaths listed were caused by accidents like aircraft crashes, as well as friendly fire incidents, illness, and suicide.

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Georgia is home to 173,397 veterans who served in the post 9/11 era, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.

All fatality data in this story was compiled by iCasualties, a website that tracks the death toll from the post 9/11 wars.

Rank	State	Total deaths in post 9/11 wars	Total Iraq War deaths	Total Afghanistan War deaths	Civilian veterans who served post 9/11
1	California	755	486	269	332,531
2	Texas	617	426	191	460,466
3	Florida	356	203	153	302,120
4	New York	306	199	107	116,010
5	Pennsylvania	294	198	96	117,747
6	Ohio	279	188	91	123,040
7	Illinois	254	165	89	103,626
8	Michigan	231	163	68	86,440
9	Georgia	218	144	74	173,397
10	Virginia	215	138	77	231,047
11	North Carolina	196	112	84	166,398
12	Washington	153	95	58	136,014
13	Indiana	152	96	56	66,924
14	Arizona	151	99	52	112,422
15	Missouri	146	91	55	73,573
16	Tennessee	144	98	46	98,295
17	Oklahoma	133	79	54	64,807
18	Massachusetts	132	80	52	39,791
19	New Jersey	131	82	49	53,196
20	Maryland	128	81	47	102,951
21	Louisiana	127	90	37	52,677
22	Wisconsin	124	89	35	59,409
23	Kentucky	115	71	44	51,780
24	Oregon	108	74	34	52,011
25	Colorado	107	69	38	106,903
26	Alabama	106	73	33	81,863
27	South Carolina	101	60	41	89,618
28	Minnesota	98	68	30	49,217
29	Arkansas	92	63	29	43,684
30	Kansas	78	50	28	39,730
31	Mississippi	77	54	23	39,492
32	Iowa	73	49	24	33,022
33	Nebraska	62	46	16	27,279
34	New Mexico	58	42	16	27,402
35	Nevada	55	36	19	50,602
37	Utah	52	25	27	35,323
36	Connecticut	52	32	20	28,064
38	Idaho	50	33	17	33,479
39	Maine	47	24	23	20,012
40	Hawaii	43	29	14	29,199
41	West Virginia	41	26	15	20,218
42	New Hampshire	40	23	17	17,199
43	Montana	38	29	9	21,251
44	South Dakota	26	20	6	12,591
46	Vermont	25	21	4	5,596
45	Alaska	25	17	8	21,759
47	Wyoming	22	15	7	9,601
49	North Dakota	20	14	6	11,728
48	Rhode Island	20	12	8	10,293
50	Delaware	17	14	3	13,130