As the US war on Iran enters its second month, communities in Ohio, Iowa and Kentucky are bearing a disproportionate share of the human cost. Nearly half of the 13 American service members killed in action so far have hailed from these three states, raising questions about the conflict's legality and purpose.
Captain Curtis Angst, 30, of the 121st air refueling wing from Wilmington, Ohio, will be laid to rest on Friday at Dayton National Cemetery. He was one of six air crew killed on 12 March when their aircraft collided with another US plane over western Iraq. The war, launched without congressional approval, has left many veterans baffled.
Colonel Bob Baylor, an Ohio veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, said: “I still don’t know what our objective is. As a colonel, as a graduate of the Air War College, one of the first things you learn is what are your objectives. It’s absolutely tragic. What is our objective? We are losing people.”
Last weekend, an estimated 8 million people across the US protested the war. Some Ohio Republicans have defied President Trump by voting for a measure to end attacks on Iran. In Kentucky, Benjamin Pennington and Ashley Pruitt, from neighbouring towns, became the first US service members to die within days of each other in the conflict.
Kenny Fogle, a 25-year air force veteran from Bardstown, Kentucky, said: “We have serious questions as to the imminent threat, the absence of congressional involvement, the actual reasoning behind the initial attack and the lack of consultation with our Nato allies.”
More than 3,500 people in Iran and over 1,200 in Lebanon have been killed since the war began on 28 February. Iowa veteran Joe Stutler, who served nearly a decade, said: “This is a war of opportunity, not a war of necessity. The further we get into it, the more we’re learning that there wasn’t really a plan.”
