Statistics say high number of soldiers killed are from rural areas

By Ben Holman

Nevada Daily Mail

On Thursday afternoon, Representative Ike Skelton hosted a conference call regarding the disproportionate numbers of men and women from rural areas who serve in the military.

Skelton said that he was a member of the Democratic Rural Working Group and that among the issues set forth as priorities were a strong national security and honoring veterans; it was for this reason, said Skelton, that he wanted to draw attention to this disparity.

Skelton said, based on numbers gathered from the Pentagon and Census Bureau, as of May 1, 2004, of all soldiers killed in action during Operation Enduring Freedom 47.8 percent were from rural communities -- communities under 20,000 in population. Of all soldiers killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom 43.2 percent were from rural communities. The congressman said this was a disproportionate number because while rural communities only make up 22.5 percent of the population in America, they make up between 43 and 47 percent of those who enlist in the military.

"Small town America is carrying a large burden on its shoulders in this war on terrorism…" said Skelton, "… we're proud of them."

Just last year, the small, tight-knit community of Hume, home to 337 people, lost one of its own, when U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jamie Huggins was killed in action on Oct. 26, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq, when the vehicle he was in was struck by an explosive device. Huggins was the youngest veteran to die in service in Hume's history and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The tragedy shook the community, and area residents grieved and honored Huggins during a Veteran's Day gathering at Hume High School. Apparently, many small communities throughout the U.S. have had to deal with similar tragedies.

When asked why he felt that rural America was misrepresented in the military Skelton replied, "There is a deep sense of patriotism throughout small town and rural America that leads so many to join the military."

While he believes that patriotism is strongest in these parts of America, he said that patriotism is all across this country, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He also pointed out that economic strains and lack of jobs in small communities make military service more appealing to high school graduates from small communities.

Asked if the gap was unfair, he responded by saying that young men and women who enlist in the military do so because it is, "a very good opportunity even though it is dangerous. Statistics show that it's dangerous." He went on to say that many find the benefits of military life to be better than what they might hope to find elsewhere and stay for 20 or more years. "Many find it to be a very rewarding life, as well as challenging."

Other congressmen have raised the option of reinstating the draft to help fix the disparity. When asked his opinion on this matter Skelton said, "At this stage it wouldn't work." He claimed that a draft would swell the numbers of the military to near two million, "We're not equipped for that. We don't need two million soldiers." However, Congressman Skelton is in favor of increasing the size of the military. "I've been saying since 1995 that we need 40,000 more soldiers."

He said that the U.S. is relying too heavily on reserves and that he knew a young man who had just returned from Iraq and was scheduled to re-deploy with a new unit within 90 days. (See story, page 5A, for more information about the redeployment of some Missouri troops.)

Skelton supports a House Bill that calls for increasing active duty Army by 30,000 and Marines by 9,000 over the next three years.

The Congressman was also asked how he purposed the disparity be fixed; he said that recruiters in the cities and rural areas were doing a wonderful job and that recruiters in the suburbs would simply have to redouble their efforts. "I'm spelling out the contributions that young men and women from rural America are making," not, he said, trying to take issue with the apparant lack of representation from the middle and upper class.

While the less-educated and poorer classes are not represented proportionally to their population, the situation has improved over the years.

According to a September 2002 report by the United States General Accounting Office the military has become older and better educated since the end of the draft in 1973. In 1974 approximately 80 percent of enlisted personnel had a high school diploma, in 2000 that number was around 95 percent; the number of officers obtaining post-graduate degrees jumped from 25 percent to 43 percent.

Even if these numbers still represent a disparity between the lower-class and the middle-to-upper-class, they show that the military does offer a good opportunity for people with limited options to change their station in life.

Sue Berryman, an education analyst was quoted by the Kansas City Star as saying, "The military is an extremely important provider of upward mobility."

She says that men and women from lower socioeconomic classes in the military tend to be better off than those who seek a traditional career path.

Skelton was also quoted by the Kansas City Star as saying, "The only way we can solve it (the disparity) is for there to be a spirit of patriotism or sense of duty in all American families. All of us really need to pay in one way or another for our citizenship, for what we have."