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Untitled Document
Vermont's
war death toll highest in nation
Carsey Institute:
Rural Casualties Are Disproportionately High in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
DURHAM, N.H. –When
the nation goes to war, all Americans are expected to make sacrifices. Today’s
rural Americans, however, are making the ultimate sacrifice in disproportionate
numbers, a fact sheet from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire
finds.
The fact sheet – “Rural
Americans Continue to Account for Disproportionate High Share of U.S. Casualties
in Iraq and Afghanistan” – is the Carsey Institute’s second
annual Veteran’s Day release of this data, drawn from U.S. Department
of Defense records.
“As we observe Veteran’s
Day this year, it is important for Americans to recognize that rural families
are paying a disproportionately high price for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,”
says report author William P. O’Hare, a senior fellow at the Carsey Institute.
Rural areas account for
only 19 percent of the adult population, but have suffered 26 percent of the
casualties. Of the 4,197 American military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1,102
are accounted for by soldiers from rural areas. That represents a death rate
of 31 per million among rural men and women, compared to a death rate of 21
per million for urbanites – a significant increase since October 2006,
when the death rate was 24 per million for rural residents and 15 per million
for urbanites.
For the second year, Vermont
had the highest rural death toll at 61 killed per million adults. As a result,
Vermont’s combined rural and urban statewide death toll was 47 killed
per million adults, the highest of any state in the nation. Delaware had the
second highest rural death rate at 60 killed per million adults. Nebraska (57
killed per million adults) and Oregon (56 per million) followed.
O’Hare and co-author
Bill Bishop found that higher death rates for soldiers from rural areas are
linked to the higher rate of enlistment of young adults from rural America,
which in turn is often linked to diminished opportunities there. “Transitioning
from youth to adulthood is more problematic in the rural U.S. because there
are fewer job opportunities,” says O’Hare, who notes that the unemployment
rate among 18–24-year-olds is nine percent in rural America compared to
seven percent in urban areas.
“This is a story of
American opportunity as much as it is one of the military losses suffered by
rural communities,” says Mil Duncan, director of the Carsey Institute.
“Traditional rural industries like farming, timber, mining, fishing and
manufacturing are employing fewer workers than they have in the past, and competition
accompanying globalization increasingly moves jobs overseas. As these opportunities
disappear, rural youth are enlisting in the Armed Forces not only because they
are patriotic, but also to find a path to a more promising future.”
To read the full report,
go to http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/FS9.pdf. For more information
about the Carsey Institute, go to www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu.
The Carsey Institute at
the University of New Hampshire conducts research and analysis on the challenges
facing families and communities in New Hampshire, New England, and the nation.
The Carsey Institute sponsors independent, interdisciplinary research that documents
trends and conditions affecting families and communities, providing valuable
information and analysis to policymakers, practitioners, the media, and the
general public. Through this work, the Carsey Institute contributes to public
dialogue on policies that encourage social mobility and sustain healthy, equitable
communities.
The Carsey Institute was
established in May 2002 through a generous gift from UNH alumna and noted television
producer Marcy Carsey.
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