Enlistments rose in the months after the attacks, but only modestly. Over the next year, and over the next decade, the work of war fell to a relative few, with less than 1 percent of the nation deploying in Iraq or Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011.
Who, then, were those volunteers — the first to enlist, the first to taste battle, the first to die?
Studies show that starting in 2002, Army recruits scored higher on qualification tests, had high school diplomas more often and came from higher-income areas than in previous years — indications that military service was attracting a broader cross-section of Americans, experts say.
But that wave of interest — spurred by a weak economy in 2002 as well as patriotism — did not last, said Beth Asch, an economist with the RAND Corporation who has studied military recruitment.
In 2005, when civil war raged in Iraq and American casualty rates were hitting new highs, the Army, the largest armed service, missed its recruiting goal by nearly 7,000 soldiers. The quality of recruits fell as well. It took the collapse of the stock and housing markets in 2008 to fuel a new tide of enlistments.
Today, the data points of war continue to rise, like grim statistics from an endless sports season that no one seems to follow anymore. More than two million sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. More than 6,000 killed. About 44,000 wounded in action. One in five returning with post-traumatic stress, major depression or traumatic brain injury. More than 1,000 missing a limb.
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