CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — In the military-heavy communities surrounding Fort Campbell, a sprawling U.S. Army base that straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky line, the war in Iran is on a lot of people's minds.
The base is home to the 101st Airborne Division, known as “the Screaming Eagles,” which has been a key force in America’s major conflicts since World War II. After Sept. 11, 2001, tens of thousands of troops from the post started regular deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. During troop surges in those countries, yearly combat casualties in the division surpassed some of its deadliest years in Vietnam.
The towns of Oak Grove, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee, surround the base and cater to the soldiers there with military clothing stores, barbershops and fast food restaurants. War memorials and monuments fill the cities' green spaces. There are American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and military support centers. At Austin Peay State University, in Clarksville, a third of the students are military or veterans.
‘Mixed emotions’ about the conflict
Juan Munoz is an Army veteran who spent time in Afghanistan and now works as a career counselor in Clarksville for people leaving the military. He said families in the area have “mixed emotions” about the new war. Many younger soldiers are excited to deploy, while their spouses, parents and siblings worry about their safety.
“You can’t ever give up the concern for your loved one, who’s potentially putting themselves in harm’s way,” he said. However, that concern doesn't stop them from supporting the attack on Iran. “At the end of the day, they’re going to support their service member.”
Munoz said he thinks the war is a "great move," because Iran is equipping our enemies, putting our troops and our allies in the region in danger.
“It’s what needs to be done,” he said.
Trust in Trump
Edward Bauman, a veteran with 23 years in the Army who deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, spoke to a reporter on Monday outside an Oak Grove box store. He based his support for the war on his trust in President Donald Trump.
“My takeaway is there had to have been some reason for him to bomb them. I don’t think he would have just went out of his way to just, ‘I’m going to bomb these people’,” he said.
He does not believe Trump is taking America into another prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
“It’s not going to be another Afghanistan. It’s not going to be another Iraq. We’re not going to go in and try to occupy them,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the conflict "is not endless" even as he warned that more American casualties are likely in the weeks ahead.
Many unknowns for families
Shannon Razsadin, CEO of the Virginia-based nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network, said there is “a good amount of stress and anxiety from the community just around the unknowns right now."
In spite of the stress, she said, “They’re incredibly proud. Military families are proud of their service. And our military, our service members are prepared, and they are ready."
Susan Lynn, a state representative in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of the Army base, is one of those proud but concerned family members. In 2020, she took to Facebook to thank Trump for not sending her son, who is enlisted in the Air Force, into "another war.” On Saturday, she posted that he has been deployed and asked for prayers.
“From the time my son was a little boy, he wanted to be in the Air Force,” Lynn said in a phone interview on Monday. “He’s extremely patriotic. He will do anything to support our commander in chief. And I feel the same way. That if our commander in chief has made this executive decision, that this is something we should do, then I will trust that.”
Some veterans oppose the attack
Meanwhile, Chris McFarland, another veteran who served out of Fort Campbell and deployed to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, has been making his opposition to the war in Iran well known. As soon as he learned of it, he had a sign made declaring “No more wars” and has been holding it on a major thoroughfare in Clarksville every day.
McFarland, who leads the nonprofit Veterans for All, which advocates for veteran healthcare, said he has seen some hostility from drivers during his protest, but also some people have pulled over to talk to him. Many want more information about what is happening.
They are ”in shock, confused, concerned," he said.
McFarland does not mince words in describing his personal feelings about the attack on Iran.
“It is 100% unnecessary. It is unconstitutional. Literally, our own Congress didn’t even approve of this. This was done without anyone’s acknowledgement at 3:00 in the morning to murder people over in Iran.”
For many combat veterans like himself, he said the idea of a new war is bringing up bad memories.
“It just puts us right back in, right back at ground zero.”
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Associated Press reporter Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, contributed.
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