A portrait of who they were
Page 1 of 2
Between March 20, 2003 and May 6, 2004, 759 US troops died in Iraq. This is the longest, fiercest, sustained combat Americans have seen in a generation.
The press release from the Pentagon was terse:
"The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on April 24, in Taji, Iraq, when mortar rounds hit their camp. The four soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's 39th Support Battalion, 39th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Hazen, Ark. Killed were:
Capt. Arthur L. Felder, 36, of Louisville, Ark.
Chief Warrant Officer Patrick W. Kordsmeier, 49, of North Little Rock, Ark.
Staff Sgt. Billy J. Orton, 41, of Humnoke, Ark.
Staff Sgt. Stacey C. Brandon, 35, of Hazen, Ark.
The incident is under investigation."
For four families, the news came with a knock on the door by a somber officer in dress uniform. For four communities, it was a sharp and heavy rock thrown into a pond of thought and feeling, rippling inexorably outward in ways none could have imagined. Their loved ones, their colleagues and neighbors, had gone to war, and now they weren't coming back.
At time of writing, the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq stood at 772. This is the longest, fiercest, sustained combat Americans have seen in a generation - since Vietnam. Compared with earlier major wars, the number of military fatalities there is not yet large. Still, it took four years in Southeast Asia for the toll of US military losses to reach 500; the number reached that level over 10 months in Iraq. And while each individual loss is profoundly tragic for the families affected, the ripple effect of such losses in Iraq - the number of family, friends, and colleagues, the impact on communities and the organizations and informal groups that form the fabric of American society at the hometown level - in fact may be greater this time.
The cross section of American fighting men and women in Iraq, and especially those lost so far, hints at why. Their collective portrait shows a young man (a small fraction are women) who is 27 or 28 years old, quite likely to be married and to have children. This contrasts with Vietnam, where the typical enlisted soldier was drafted just out of high school or in his early 20s. In this way, those fighting - and dying - in Iraq are more like their grandfathers in World War II than their fathers in Vietnam.
Take Bradford, Ark., a town of just 800 people. Last year, eight men in the community - including the mayor, the police chief, and the school librarian - were called to active duty along with others in the Army National Guard's 39th Support Battalion headquartered in nearby Hazen. (This is the same unit that lost the four men cited above.)
Mostly older family men (Mayor Paul Bunn has four children), they were told they'd be gone a year. But they've since learned that their tour will be extended.
Town Recorder Grebe Edens, who taught fourth grade for 35 years, is filling in as mayor. She says everybody's been sending care packages of toothpaste, deodorant, and snacks. "You can't go anywhere but what people are talking about what's going on over there, hoping that ours all get back in one piece," says Ms. Edens.
"Everybody's concerned; very much so," she says. "But we're trying to carry on just like they were here."
In paying tribute to the men from Arkansas killed in that mortar attack last month, US Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) could have been describing much of America's armed forces today. "Those serving in Iraq today are not only military men, but are also doctors, lawyers, police officers, and firemen," she said. "They are teachers, factory workers, business owners, and elected officials. Most important, they are husbands and wives - mothers and fathers...."
While American GIs come from all over the country, certain generalizations can be made about those who serve and those who are killed in the line of duty, according to experts who study military demographics and sociology.
"It's small town America and the inner city," says Charles Moskos, a sociologist at Northwestern University in Chicago specializing in the military.
Those lost in this war also tend to come from communities with a slightly lower-than-average annual household income: $39,366 versus $41,994 for the country as a whole, a $2,628 difference.
"It tends to underrepresent both the top and the bottom of the socioeconomic structure," says David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organizations at the University of Maryland in College Park.
"The bottom gets cut out because of low educational levels, lower mental aptitude scores, poor health, or criminal records," says Dr. Segal. "The top pretty much excludes itself."
Generally speaking, today's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are older than their counterparts during the draft, which ended in 1973. And they marry somewhat younger - typically at 24 compared with 27 for the average American male. Some enter military service well into their 20s, and many are likely to reenlist.
This has had a noticeable effect on the overall complexion of the force, notes Segal.
"More of them are married," he says. "They're older. They have more kids. They have civilian jobs that they're leaving behind. They have community responsibilities, both formal and informal."
But there have been other changes to the makeup of the US fighting force as well. In general, Dr. Moskos says, it is the case that "our privileged youth are no longer serving."
Next:
Moskos cites several indicators of this shift.
|
RSS feed