AP: War losses mount for small towns

[deadparrot]

MCKEESPORT, Pa. - Raised in the projects in an old steel town, Edward "Willie" Carman saw the Army as a chance to build a new life.

"I'm not doing it to you, I'm doing it for me," the then-18-year-old told his mother, Joanna Hawthorne, after coming home from high school one day and surprising her with the news.

When Carman died in Iraq three years ago at age 27, he had money saved for college, a fiancee and two kids — including a baby son he'd never met. Neighbors in Hawthorne's mobile home park collected $400 and left it in an envelope in her door.

McKeesport is not alone in its mourning. Nearly half of the more than 3,100 U.S. military fatalities in Iraq have come from towns like McKeesport, where fewer than 25,000 people live, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. One in five hailed from hometowns of less than 5,000.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/iraq_small_town_burden

[The Count]

1. One of the comments to the "uninvited amputee" story"

"sacrifice has to be voluntary. That guy joined the army not for self sacrifice, but to get free college and some money, so quit whining about losing your limbs"

[Monkeyman]

2. You know I am a man of Peace but when these people say that

This vet wants to smack them in the face

[The Count]

3. I am still shaking with fury, 24 hours after reading that stuff....

The contempt of the chickenhawks was never that raw, in my face as in that discussion that somehow became all about formalwear.