If they're not willing to go to war for
Posted By: US, can you explain this? sm on 2005-07-06
In Reply to: melting... - eyetype
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State
Nov. 12, 2004, 11:25PM
Hispanic toll in Iraq higher than expected
Death figures are out of proportion to their numbers in the state and in the military
By T.A. BADGER
Associated Press
RESOURCES
Here's a look at the breakdown of Hispanics in the military:
• 40: The number of Hispanics among the first 100 Texans killed in the war.
• 30: Percentage of Texans in the military who are Hispanic.
• 14: The number of Texans who died in Iraq before May 1, 2003.
• 7: The number of Hispanic Texans who died in Iraq before May 1, 2003.
• 11: Percentage of Hispanic soldiers and Marines overall.
SAN ANTONIO - The casualty rate for Hispanic Texans in Iraq has been out of proportion for their population or their enlistment rate.
That is also the case for Hispanics nationally, although it's not clear why.
Forty of the first 100 Texans killed in the war were Hispanic, a death rate that is about 18 percent higher than their representation in the population. Hispanics comprise just more than one-third of the state's 22.1 million residents, according to the latest census figures.
When measured by enlistment, the disproportion is even greater. Hispanics account for about 30 percent of Texans in the military, making the death rate 33 percent above their numbers in uniform.
"It's both substantively and significantly higher than we would expect," said Brian Gifford, a research fellow at the University of California in Berkeley who is studying Iraq deaths by ethnicity.
The Hispanic toll was even higher during the earliest weeks of the war. Before May 1, 2003 — the day President Bush declared an end to major combat operations — 14 Texans died in Iraq, and half of them were Hispanic.
The same held true for Hispanic soldiers and Marines overall — they comprise about 11 percent of those forces but accounted for 16.5 percent of the deaths during the invasion.
Type of military jobs held
Gifford has a couple of theories that might explain the disproportionate casualty rate, the first being the jobs they hold in the military.
"My best guess right now is that their high casualty rates probably reflect their higher propensity to join into combat occupational specialties such as the infantry, and to join the Marine Corps, which has been used extensively during the most intense periods of combat," he said.
Ten of the 40 Hispanics from Texas killed in Iraq were in Marines. Nine of those troops died since April, when a large force of Marines first tried to subdue the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
Marine Staff Sgt. Pauline Franklin, the Corps' recruiter for southern Texas, said most of her work is with young Hispanics.
"That's the majority of the kids that come in," said Franklin, who is based in San Antonio. "They're not targeted or anything, but if you look around and see what population makes up South Texas, it's going to be Hispanic Americans."
Gifford said military rank also may be a major factor in the high casualties.
"Hispanics are overrepresented in the lower enlisted ranks of the Army and Marines, and (these) enlisted members are disproportionate among deaths," he said.
For the Hispanic Texans, 25 of those 40 killed, or 62.5 percent, were in the lowest enlisted ranks — privates, corporals and specialists.
Recruitment target
Military recruiters nationally have targeted Hispanics because of their rapidly growing numbers in the United States and because their enlistment rates have typically been lower than their share of population.
"The Pentagon has figured out that Latinos are the biggest demographic group for them for the next few decades," said Jorge Mariscal, a Vietnam War veteran who teaches literature at the University of California at San Diego.
He also is part of a Califor-nia-based group called Project Yano, which tries to counter the growing influence of recruiters in public schools.
In 1983, Hispanics made up only 4 percent of the nation's active-duty force of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, according to the Army Office of Demographics. Two decades later, Hispanics comprised 10 percent of those services.
Mariscal said young Hispanics in general have limited economic options, so they're relatively easy to recruit. But in Texas, he acknowledges, there also is a tradition of service that goes back generations.
"It's really a rite of passage for a lot of folks, especially young men," he said. "But that's even changing and now young women are going in."
ERES UNA ESTUPIDA, NO?
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
|
