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Where Do U.S. War Dead Come From? printable version

20 Feb 2015: posted by the editor - United States

By David Swanson
Evan Knappenberger, veteran turned peace activist, put together the following data and map.

Needless to say, most of the dead in recent U.S. wars are on the non-U.S. side—about 97% in fact. These are one-sided slaughters. But that doesn't mean there aren't deaths on the side of the aggressor. And beyond the deaths, far more injuries, and far more suffering PTSD and moral injury.

Needless to say, as well, both Republican and Democratic party leaders in Washington have supported these wars and continue to do so.

Still, it may be interesting to see which states—with party labels on them—are sending the most U.S. troops to their untimely and unjustifiable deaths. From Maryland up to Massachusetts states are dispropotionately spared war deaths. The same is true for West Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida—plus Illinois and Minnesota. Four more states: California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado are also disproportionately spared. A lot of the biggest urban areas are in those states: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Jose, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Denver, Baltimore, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Raleigh, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis.

All the other states are disproportionately impacted by deaths in action in U.S. wars. See the data. These states are hardest hit: Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oregon, Nebraska, Kentucky, Michigan

These states are hit most lightly: Utah, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Florida, California, New York

I suspect these numbers roughly correspond to participation in the military.

The lesson should not of course be that we should get more people killed from the states that are participating less. The lesson should be that the states participating the least should be congratulated and the others criticized.

Nor should the lesson be that flying robots should do the killing. Mass murder is as immoral and self-defeating regardless of the immediate danger to the murderers.

The lesson should be that counter-recruitment efforts are needed in rural areas.

The lesson should be that imperial death-dealing is a bipartisan criminal enterprise that must be rejected by the U.S. nation as a whole.

Tags: war dead, anti-war

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