ScoopDaily: Dying Youth Mobilize Peers

Nov. 21, 2009 -- How casualties of young people at war affect the political mobilization of their peers back home.

When President Obama spoke at last week's memorial for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre that took place on Nov. 6, he was honoring some of the army's youngest heroes. Five of the 13 soldiers killed in the tragedy were under the age of 24, the youngest only 19 years old. The fact is, casualties in this age group are sadly commonplace—more than half of all U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan were soldiers between 18 and 24 years old. But what those soldiers didn't know was that their deaths, the largest number of American casualties since the war in Vietnam, may have spurred a new era of increased political participation among young people, the likes of which hasn't been seen since our parents protested Vietnam 35 years ago.

As of August 2008, a combined 4,683 American had died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to statistics published by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Approximately 51.9 percent of those deaths were soldiers between 18 and 24 years old. * At the same time, political participation among members of the same demographic was at an all-time high. Young voters consistently rated the war in Iraq as one of their chief concerns (other than the economy), and between 22 and 24 million voters aged 18-29 voted in the 2008 presidential election last November, according to an exit poll analysis released by CIRCLE, a non-partisan research center at Tufts University.

Coincidence? Col. Thomas A. Kolditz, head of the department of behavioral sciences and leadership at West Point, doesn't think so. "Our political awareness comes from a level of commitment of the perceived importance [of the wars] in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "People in this age cohort have a very well-developed service orientation—they are interested in service and civic-mindedness—so I think they can be a very powerful political force."

Kolditz noted that the military is 2/3 the size that it was even 20 years ago, which means that fewer Americans have a direct connection to anyone who is serving overseas. However, that doesn't mean that they care any less about the fate of troops that are currently serving. And while last November young people differed in terms of how they wanted their president to act militarily once in office—approximately 2/3 voted for now-President Obama, and the remaining third voted for Senator McCain—the desire to support their troops remained the same across party lines.

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"Unlike the Vietnam War, where soldiers were vilified [by the public] because of political policies, now people who are on both sides of the conflict uniformly respect soldiers and their service," Kolditz said.

Young people in this demographic largely echoed Kolditz's sentiments. Most felt little direct connection to the wars being fought by their peers overseas, even those with close friends who are serving. Their views—and how they voted in 2008—had more to do with matters of international policy than personal strife.

"Military deaths in [my] age group were not a significant influence on my vote for president," said Eric Vanderwall, 22, a student at Oregon State University. Vanderwall was, however, opposed to the President's proposed troop increase, and spoke in favor of instead strengthening infrastructure in Iraq.

Gerrit Betz, 25, and Jordan Rosenfeld, 21, expressed similar views. Although Betz, a law student in Boston, has several friends who served or are currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, he said that his political participation was not based on the number of war casualties accrued overseas, but rather "misallocation of resources and imprudence as policy." Betz advocated for scaling back military efforts (including withdrawing troops) and refocusing on domestic issues.

Rosenfeld, a student at Carnegie Mellon University, spoke of two close friends who served in Iraq, one as an army ranger and the other as a marine. He said his vote in the 2008 election was partially based on the possibility of the U.S. going into Iran. "I don't know that this was a direct consequence of how many young people have died, probably indirect, [but I] thought during the campaigns in 2008 that if John McCain won, we would go to war with Iran, and myself and all of my friends would be drafted. That played a small part in my vote, but it played a part," Rosenfeld said.

While most young people don't seem to be acting upon personal connections they have to U.S. military overseas, they have remained supportive of American soldiers and engaged in the national conversation as to what should happen next, and that's what's important, Kolditz said. "I think that because young people they respect and admire [U.S. soldiers], they stay close to this issue," he said. "I don't think this issue will be put on back burner in terms of political awareness, and that's a very good thing."

*As of last Monday, the DOD now puts the total number of casualties at 5277, 4364 of which occurred in Iraq and 913 in Afghanistan. The amount of deaths attributed to young people has not yet been disclosed.

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