Small U.S. towns bear scars from Iraq

[ProSense]

Small U.S. towns bear scars from Iraq

Updated 2/19/2007 4:21 PM ET

By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press

MCKEESPORT, Pa. — Edward "Willie" Carman wanted a ticket out of town, and the Army provided it. Raised in the projects by a single mother in this blighted, old industrial steel town outside Pittsburgh, the 18-year-old saw the U.S. military as an opportunity.

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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.

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Across the nation, small towns are quietly bearing a disproportionate burden of war. Nearly half of the more than 3,100 U.S. military casualties in Iraq have come from towns like McKeesport, Pa., 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.

Many of the hometowns of the war dead aren't just small, they're poor. The AP analysis found that nearly three quarters of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average.

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[TayTay]

1. This is sad

It seems like the burdens of this war are being borne by a disproportionately small number of people. It's so awful.

[ProSense]

2. This a devastating tragedy.

It's time for Congress to stop sending signals to Bush and pass binding legislation to end the war.