Team Infidel
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USA Today
February 19, 2008
Pg. 1
Fatality data show sporadic nature of conflict in Iraq
By Rick Hampson and Paul Overberg, USA Today
As the Iraq war approaches its fifth anniversary and 4,000th U.S. military fatality, about three dozen cities with populations above 100,000 have not lost a servicemember in the conflict, according to the Pentagon's list of the deceased's hometowns.
The fact that so many relatively large cities have been spared a fatality in Iraq underscores how sporadically the war has affected much of the American home front.
Cities without a reported loss include seven that have more than 150,000 residents, among them Oakland and Fort Lauderdale. Analysts offer two explanations for why such cities could have avoided military losses:
•Recruits tend to come from less-populated areas-- small towns and rural areas. David Segal, a sociologist who directs the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization, says the fact that some relatively large cities have been spared a loss "is a reflection of where much of the military's recruiting has been done. Cities tend to have more viable economies than those places."
Urban residents, accordingly, are less apt to need the economic opportunity offered by military service.
•In a nation of 300 million, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq is small enough to make chance a factor in which cities lose a son or daughter.
"There's a big random element in this," says William O'Hare, a University of New Hampshire demographer who has studied U.S. deaths in Iraq. "Even in a city of 100,000, you're talking about a fairly small pool of recruit-age people."
Cities that have so far escaped a fatality in Iraq have suffered significantly in other wars. During the Vietnam War, for instance, Oakland lost at least 99 people. In all, the nation sustained more than 58,000 military deaths in Vietnam.
The list of cities with the most killed in Iraq is headed by New York City (62), Houston (38) and San Antonio (33).
The absence of a listed war death doesn't mean a city hasn't been affected by the war's toll. The Pentagon's record of those killed lists a servicemember's "hometown of record"-- usually where the person was raised and was living at the time of enlistment. That may not be where he or she was born, grew up or has immediate family.
Charles Rubado was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y., and graduated in 2000 from Corcoran High School there. His family later moved to Florida, and when he was killed in Iraq in 2005 while serving with the Army, his hometown was listed as Clearwater, Fla.
But to those who knew him back in Syracuse, Rubado-- so athletic that coaches fought over him, so smart that teachers treasured him-- would always be a local boy. They planted a red oak tree outside the high school in his memory.
"We'll never forget that crooked grin," says his U.S. history teacher, Barbara Slater. "Charlie will always be a part of us here."
No losses in Iraq
Most-populous cities that have not lost a servicemember in Iraq: Oakland; North Las Vegas; Gilbert, Ariz.; Fort Lauderdale; Worcester, Mass.
Sources: Defense Department data, USA TODAY research
February 19, 2008
Pg. 1
Fatality data show sporadic nature of conflict in Iraq
By Rick Hampson and Paul Overberg, USA Today
As the Iraq war approaches its fifth anniversary and 4,000th U.S. military fatality, about three dozen cities with populations above 100,000 have not lost a servicemember in the conflict, according to the Pentagon's list of the deceased's hometowns.
The fact that so many relatively large cities have been spared a fatality in Iraq underscores how sporadically the war has affected much of the American home front.
Cities without a reported loss include seven that have more than 150,000 residents, among them Oakland and Fort Lauderdale. Analysts offer two explanations for why such cities could have avoided military losses:
•Recruits tend to come from less-populated areas-- small towns and rural areas. David Segal, a sociologist who directs the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization, says the fact that some relatively large cities have been spared a loss "is a reflection of where much of the military's recruiting has been done. Cities tend to have more viable economies than those places."
Urban residents, accordingly, are less apt to need the economic opportunity offered by military service.
•In a nation of 300 million, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq is small enough to make chance a factor in which cities lose a son or daughter.
"There's a big random element in this," says William O'Hare, a University of New Hampshire demographer who has studied U.S. deaths in Iraq. "Even in a city of 100,000, you're talking about a fairly small pool of recruit-age people."
Cities that have so far escaped a fatality in Iraq have suffered significantly in other wars. During the Vietnam War, for instance, Oakland lost at least 99 people. In all, the nation sustained more than 58,000 military deaths in Vietnam.
The list of cities with the most killed in Iraq is headed by New York City (62), Houston (38) and San Antonio (33).
The absence of a listed war death doesn't mean a city hasn't been affected by the war's toll. The Pentagon's record of those killed lists a servicemember's "hometown of record"-- usually where the person was raised and was living at the time of enlistment. That may not be where he or she was born, grew up or has immediate family.
Charles Rubado was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y., and graduated in 2000 from Corcoran High School there. His family later moved to Florida, and when he was killed in Iraq in 2005 while serving with the Army, his hometown was listed as Clearwater, Fla.
But to those who knew him back in Syracuse, Rubado-- so athletic that coaches fought over him, so smart that teachers treasured him-- would always be a local boy. They planted a red oak tree outside the high school in his memory.
"We'll never forget that crooked grin," says his U.S. history teacher, Barbara Slater. "Charlie will always be a part of us here."
No losses in Iraq
Most-populous cities that have not lost a servicemember in Iraq: Oakland; North Las Vegas; Gilbert, Ariz.; Fort Lauderdale; Worcester, Mass.
Sources: Defense Department data, USA TODAY research