Fact check: False claim that Time chose fallen service members as Persons of the Year – USA TODAY

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At the end of each year, the internet buzzes with speculationabout who Time magazine will pick as its much-anticipated Person of the Year.

A Dec. 16 Facebook postclaims the magazine made a somber choice this year.

The post seemingly shows the cover ofa Person of the Year issue depicting the caskets carrying 13 American service members killed in Afghanistan in August. Accompanying text says "the men and women Biden failed in Afghanistan" are the magazine's choice.

The post received more than 1,000 likes and400 shares in a day.

But it's not a real cover. Time chose billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk as its Person of the Year.

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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.

Thirteen U.S. service membersdied Aug. 26 in a suicide bombing attack outside Kabul'sHamid Karzai International Airport, where thousands attempted to flee after the Talibantook overAfghanistan.

Among those killedwere 11 Marines,one Navy hospital corpsman and one Army soldier, according to the Pentagon. The Biden administration was heavily criticizedfor its handling of the situation.

But Time didn't highlight that event with its Person of the Year selection.

The magazine announced Musk,CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as its pick for the 2021 Person of the Year on Dec. 13.

"Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too,"wrote Time Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal. "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the worlds richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society."

The image in the altered Time cover posted on Facebook was sharedAug. 29 by the U.S. Marine Corps' Twitteraccount.

Fact check: Image claiming to show Musk and Maxwell as Time's Person of the Year is altered

Time's Person of the Year covers are frequently altered. USA TODAY has previously debunked fake covers of now-former President Donald Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell, AdolfHitler,China's Xi Jinping and pandemic health care workers.

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED a photo claiming to showthat Time magazine's 2021 Person of the Year is "the men & women Biden failed in Afghanistan."Time chose billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, not the 13 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan in August.

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Fact check: False claim that Time chose fallen service members as Persons of the Year - USA TODAY