Abstract
This paper examines the opportunity structures of the places from which a subset of US soldiers who have fought and died in Iraq have come, using a spatial inequality framework on poverty and connecting it to research on the military and society. Focusing on Appalachia and the villages, cities, and counties that were the homes to 370 of the combat deaths in Iraq, findings reveal that "place matters" for the opportunities available to the citizenry. Soldiers from Appalachia who have fought and died in the war hailed from a context of disadvantage on multiple fronts. Their hometowns are characterized by less educational attainment, lower household and per capita incomes, greater hunger, and higher poverty rates, relative to the United States as a whole. In such a context, military service may be an important labor market providing otherwise unavailable employment, benefits, and educational opportunities that could potentially empower an escape from a place of disadvantage--particularly when coupled with conservative politics and contributions in wars past. However, more critical perspectives may view enlistment as something those with few options have no other choice but to do--a key debate in the era of the all-volunteer force and new patterns of military recruitment.
