The more you know about a person the more of a reaction you’re going to have when they die. Stronger feelings will come from the loss of family or friends, than a random person across the globe.

Celebrities and public officials are somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, we know more about them than we do a complete stranger so we develop opinions and feelings about them even though we never met them in real life.

I guarantee the families of those dead soldiers cared more about their troops than they would a politician.