Number 107

No, the Afghanistan clusterfuck is by no means slowing down. Kentucky's 107th casualty is our third in seven weeks, the fourth in 2012, already more than the three in all of 2011. The 2012 pace of worse-than-pointless deaths is the fastest since 2010, when five Kentucky soldiers died in one horrific 21-day stretch in June and July.

Thomas McAdam at The Arena:

Ken Faust and his wife Tess were at home Monday evening, at their house on Bradley Avenue—just south of Eastern Parkway—when they heard a knock on their door and received the news every military family dreads. Their 22-year-old son, Aaron, had been killed in Afghanistan.

The Marine delivering this devastating news could provide the family with only a few details. According to the Department of Defense, Cpl. Aaron M. Faust, of Louisville, Kentucky, died April 15 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Like his dad, Aaron was a member of the Okolona Veterans of Foreign Wars. Ken serves as the post’s Quartermaster; and also as VFW 6th District Jr. Vice Commander. Aaron’s mother, Tess, is the secretary with the Okolona VFW Ladies Auxiliary, Legislative Department Program Chairman, and an officer in the Ladies 6th District.

The Faust family knows the meaning of the words: duty, honor, and country.