It is a different war in a different era, fought by a different American Army. Yet the emerging profile of the soldiers, sailors, pilots and other service members dying in Iraq bears a surprising similarity to those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
It is a snapshot of a new, unresolved conflict, based on preliminary information from the Defense Department, which in some ways is hard to compare with the rich history, burnished by time, of a war that stretched out over more than a decade and claimed more than 52,000 American lives.
However inexact, the early comparison does suggest that death remains the great leveler -- despite 30 years of a voluntary Army, revolutionary changes in technology in all branches and the new military doctrines that have evolved since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
Southern and Western states may provide far more members to the American military today than during the Vietnam-era draft. But so far the geographic distribution of deaths in Iraq includes men (and a few women) from every state except Hawaii, Montana and West Virginia.
Pentagon leaders may be worried about the mass call-up of Reserves and the National Guard for this war. But these groups are represented on the death rolls in roughly the same proportion in Iraq as in Vietnam.
The military is better integrated today and more of a melting pot than it was 30 years ago. But the percentage of deaths of blacks in Iraq is also roughly the same as in Vietnam. (There was no category for Hispanic fighters in that era.)
The professional corps in Iraq is older and more likely to have a family back home than was the case for soldiers in Vietnam. But so far, the proportion of married people killed in Iraq appears to be smaller than it was in Vietnam.
Despite changes in technology and warfare since Vietnam, enlisted men and women make up most of the casualties now as then.
These similarities are of more than historical interest, say experts, who are seeing signs of unease about the war among Americans as casualties slowly mount.
Charles Moskos, a professor of sociology at Northwestern University, said that these similarities were striking and that they were partly responsible for the growing questioning of the war. "Even with these relatively low casualties, you can see disenchantment in the public as the casualties mount," he said.
The Iraq war has brought a new kind of casualty, though: Women now account for 2 percent of the deaths. The numbers may seem small: Six women have died. In all the years of the Vietnam War, only eight American women died.
But the greatest difference is the absence in Iraq of waves of young men killed in action. In Vietnam, 60 percent of the deaths were men no older than 21. In Iraq, there have been more deaths of men and women between 25 and 30 than of those younger than 22.
William Hammond, a Vietnam historian of the Army, said that how the public viewed the war was closely tied to whether it accepted casualties.
One anomaly in the casualty list is a high rate of suicides among the military in Iraq compared with the troops in Vietnam. This does not square with reports that say morale is good in Iraq.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the