US Troops Killed in Iraq and Afghanistan More Likely to Be Poorer Than in Previous Wars

‘In October of 2008, during the height of the Great Recession, then-undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, David Chu, boasted that U.S. military recruitment was soaring. “We do benefit when things look less positive in civil society,” he said. “That is a situation where more people are willing to give us a chance.”
Now, a study released in August with little fanfare is confirming what America’s top military recruiter acknowledged years ago: “America’s economic downturn means that increasingly it is not the governing class, but the working class that disproportionately sends soldiers to fight and bears the burden of physical and mental war wounds.” This trend has grown more pronounced throughout history, the researchers argue, meaning that “even more than previous wars, Iraq and Afghanistan have been working class wars.”’
Read more: US Troops Killed in Iraq and Afghanistan More Likely to Be Poorer Than in Previous Wars