Spring Break
The Iraq War Comes Home
As war in the Middle East continues, the impact of Iraq invades the lives of an increasing number of Americans
Steve Markley, Senior Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/7/06 Section: Features
Senior Laura Burling met Michael Cifuentes at a band formal her first year at Miami University, staying up late with him in the hotel room and talking for hours. It was one of those accidental intersections of two lives that, by pure chance, led to an enduring friendship.
Burling liked him because of his exuberance, his smile and his interest in helping people.
After he graduated from Miami, Cifuentes would frequently return to help out with the band service organization while training for the Marines. He was deployed to Iraq in the winter of 2005.
"I got an e-mail from the band director with just Mike's name in the subject heading," Burling said. "I knew right then, and I just started to bawl."
Cifuentes had only been in Iraq for six months when an improvised explosive device ripped through his amphibious assault vehicle, killing him and 13 others. Cifuentes was 25 years old at the time.
Often the war in Iraq has the feeling of a movie you haven't gotten around to seeing yet. The action is distant, consisting of images on a screen or statistics on a page. The reality of war is out of sight and out of mind for a large portion of the population of the country that is waging it.
For Miami students, that reality may be even farther out of reach.
"In a way, it makes sense because the recruiting demographics of the United State's military have followed the shift in population to the South and West," political science professor Patrick Haney said. "This is where people are moving and where the recruits are largely coming from rather than the Midwest."
According to Haney, the conventional wisdom about who Miami students are might also have something to do with the disconnect. Since the best recruiting grounds for Miami are from high schools that send the vast majority of their students onto college, it is less likely Miami will draw students who are either in the military or close to someone overseas.
"In general terms, we're talking about different worlds," Haney said.
Burling liked him because of his exuberance, his smile and his interest in helping people.
After he graduated from Miami, Cifuentes would frequently return to help out with the band service organization while training for the Marines. He was deployed to Iraq in the winter of 2005.
"I got an e-mail from the band director with just Mike's name in the subject heading," Burling said. "I knew right then, and I just started to bawl."
Cifuentes had only been in Iraq for six months when an improvised explosive device ripped through his amphibious assault vehicle, killing him and 13 others. Cifuentes was 25 years old at the time.
Often the war in Iraq has the feeling of a movie you haven't gotten around to seeing yet. The action is distant, consisting of images on a screen or statistics on a page. The reality of war is out of sight and out of mind for a large portion of the population of the country that is waging it.
For Miami students, that reality may be even farther out of reach.
"In a way, it makes sense because the recruiting demographics of the United State's military have followed the shift in population to the South and West," political science professor Patrick Haney said. "This is where people are moving and where the recruits are largely coming from rather than the Midwest."
According to Haney, the conventional wisdom about who Miami students are might also have something to do with the disconnect. Since the best recruiting grounds for Miami are from high schools that send the vast majority of their students onto college, it is less likely Miami will draw students who are either in the military or close to someone overseas.
"In general terms, we're talking about different worlds," Haney said.
