Posted: 02.28.2008 / 10:52 PM EST
Welcome to the Military Bastions blogs. Clarissa Freeman’s first blog from Hopkinsville will be appearing soon. She is a member of the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs and her husband is a retired Army colonel. They have three children.
Do you have any questions for Clarissa? Topics you hope she’ll address? Start the ball rolling and let her know how you’d like to begin.
( Read latest blogs )
Carter Hendricks is the senior vice president of community and military relations at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce. In his post, he's in charge of implementing aspects of the Community Vision Plan, military affairs, and community affairs. Mr. Hendricks earned a BA in history and political science from Western Kentucky University, and an MA in education from Concordia University-Saint Paul, Minn. He is married and has two children, ages 4 and 6. The Hendricks family enjoys long walks, reading books, going to the YMCA, watching and playing sports, and trips to Disney World.
High levels of employment in military or related government employment; often adjacent to major military installations, private military contractors, or have a history of military-dependent economies; middle income, transient, younger populations, with some trade and service workers in the local economy.
More about Military Bastions...
"Fort Campbell and its 105,000 acres are not actually within the boundaries of Hopkinsville, but considering the impact that the base has here it might as well be. About two-thirds of the 30,000 Army and Air Force soldiers based here live in communities like this one around the region..."
| Population, income, and education | |
| Population | (2006) 69,533 |
| Median household income | (per year) $33,798 |
| Median age | 36.6 |
| Families in poverty | (%) 12.1% |
| High school graduates | (%) 77.2% |
| Bachelors degree | (%) 12.5% |
| Ethnicity (percent listed for all below) | |
| White | 71.2% |
| Black | 20.9% |
| Latino | 4.7% |
| Native American | 0.5% |
| Bi-racial | 2.4% |
| Asian-Pacific | 1.2% |
| Employment (percent listed for all below) | |
| Military | 27.3% |
| Government | 11.6% |
| Agriculture | 3.8% |
| Professional | 5.3% |
| Trade and services | 31.6% |
(Colors on map represent unique voter communities)
March 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
How do you think the community feels about the conduct of the war in Iraq aside from all the “support for the troops”?
March 25th, 2008 at 11:52 am
If I’ve learned anything from being a military wife, it is that the military is a diverse body of people. We have joes serving together from Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, New York and New Jersey– and that’s just in one shop. The soldiers have different backgrounds, different faith traditions, and different visions for the future. While some in our shop thought the war might be a good idea, others have opposed it from the beginning, and still others are surprisingly apolitical.
I wonder how the category “Military Bastions” can be helpful in predicting or analyzing election outcomes? Surely the military is a unique environment, but I can see it having characteristics similar to “campus and careers” (many soldiers join for educational opportunities). “evangelical nation”, and “service worker centers”, and perhaps even each of the other categories. Perhaps a more apt term than “Military Bastions” might be “Military Melting-Pot”.
I know my husband and I will be supporting the democratic nominee with hopes of ending the war in Iraq and seeing our national budget rebalance.
Peace.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I consider myself a middle of the road democrat who has issues with liberals and right-wing neo-cons alike. We as a military town are geared more towards taking care of the military then most towns, I have serious reservations about this. I understand that the military is intrical in the protection of our nation however at this time in history we are using them to proliferate democracy to places that don’t want to be democratic to begin with. Here at home the State Legislature is passing a tax free bill for all active duty military, this is especially troubling to me. The Armed services is a job that is entered into knowing the repercussions of that job, therefore preferencial treatment of this particular group in my eyes is discriminatory to the rest of us who have served our country and communities in different ways then joining the armed services.
Me personnaly I was injured while serving my community as a fireman, just as dangerous on a daily basis as the military yet no one is looking to give me tax free status. I have suffered from a failed triple level spinal fusion and live in excruciating pain daily, I struggle to make ends meet even with a wife who works. I have insurance and am recieving disability but I don’t get a tax break on squat. Please explain to me the difference between the service I provided running into burning buildings and saving those who could not save themselves, and the military who at this time are forcing democracy on people who don’t even want it? The tax free stuff is garbage in my opinion since the military already offers the PX and every advantage to those who need help in times of need. Don’t get me wrong, I realize I sound like a bitter old man, I respect what the military does but in the end it is a job just like the fire service, and no special treatment should be givin to one without the other. I respect the job the military has and I hope all this fighting comes to an end soon because if it doesn’t it is going to bankrupt this country financially and morally if it doesn’t end soon.
I look forward to reading more of the blog and seeing how all this ties into the final outcome of the upcoming elections, good luck with it.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:47 am
With Hillary visiting Kentucky this weekend does that mean ‘Operation Chaos’ will get more media than it deserves? Kentucky has long be a Democratic strong hold and I’ve known “friends” that changed party affiliation just to be included in the KY primary elections. That said, why haven’t the party favorites visited any of the local wounded or returning service members and openly requested their support?
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
We keep in mind that of the one billion muslims world wide a very small number is actually of the radical brand that attacked us on 9-11. How to get at that small fraction without doing tremendous damage to innocents?
One way would be to invade a terrorist support government that was also a center of islamic tradition, so that the terrorist supporters would select themselves for extinction. It would be a nice thing if the terrorist support government had attacked the US with weapons of mass destruction.
Well, we did just that. Iraq provided cyanide compounds for the explosive used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They also provided the explosive, a urea-nitrate mix, and false passports, stolen from Kuwait during the Iraqi government occupation before their eviction during Desert Storm.
So long as we have the Iraqi people as our allies, we can suck in Shia and Sunni terrorists, weakening terrorist cells around the world. To the US military advantage in open combat we add the Iraqi ally’s home field advantage, where what would be to us minor differences in language, body posture, or dress are glaring indications of foreign origin and hostile intent.
Where would any mass movement be with the most dedicated element removed? Where would any guerilla body be when forced to operate among a hostile people?
The old men who preach Jihad are getting increasingly desperate, and the governments who once were afraid of the jihadis are becoming more free from jihadi pressure to support terrorists with money and propaganda.
It is a brilliant strategy.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
This is in reply to “Iwillbhigh”…hey, if you think that the military is just another job like being a firefighter, then why don’t you try it?…Don’t get ME wrong…I respect firefighters and the dangerous work they do…however, try deploying for 4, 6, 12 or 15 months at a pop…in conditions ranging from spartan to downright nasty and hazardous to your health…THATS why we get the pay (not that its that great) and allowances that we do…we, like you, are on call 24-hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 a year…we have no unions to get coffee breaks for us, no sick time for “I just don’t feel like it today”, and if you decide that you just don’t want to go on a deployment, we’ll you better have a damned good excuse…but, I say all this just highlight the differences…I’ve served with and am serving with some DAMNED GREAT FOLKS, right now in the desert…we go where we are told, we do what we have to do, so people like you can sit around and whine and complain…and don’t tell me about the monetary cost of the war(s)…we take up only 4% GDP…less than the COLD WAR (9.5%) and less than Vietnam and Korea (both over 10%) and WAY less than WWII (try nearly ALL the GDP!)…so, just can the business and say “Thank you” the next time you see someone in military uniform…