The Invisible Soldiers

Forward
In many Jewish communities, it’s easier to name an American serving in the Israel Defense Forces than in our own military...

...Now the volunteer armed forces are filled mostly with Protestants from middle America. Officially, just 4,677 of the 1.47 million currently in the active military identify themselves as Jewish. Experts say that the true number is more than twice that amount...

An even greater problem is that military sacrifice in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere is not equally shared by all Americans. While the representation of disadvantaged minority groups in the armed forces has decreased in the last decade, and the educational level of new recruits has increased, those who serve are not reflective of the nation as a whole when it comes to geography, race and class. In this sense, the Jewish disconnect is not unusual. After all, only a handful of members of Congress have sons or daughters on active duty. Full story