Liberal Vermont Has Most Iraq Soldiers Per Capita

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.vermont11dec11,1,4100327.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

Anti-war sentiment runs hot in a cold, small state
In Vermont, which ranks first in soldier deaths per capita in Iraq, grief produces opposition to war



By Julie Bykowicz
Sun reporter

December 11, 2005

Burlington, Vt. -- It's 5 o'clock in the evening, and the protesters are here. First two, then four. Eventually eight show up in front of the Unitarian Church on Pearl Street, even with the temperature dipping below freezing. Rush hour traffic, if you can call it that in this city of 39,000, rumbles past.

A grandmother in a cherry-red coat clasps in her mittens a dog-eared poster with the word "peace" written in permanent marker. A Quaker couple huddling nearby wield two signs, one urging prayer for war hostages (and their captors) and one with a dove and the saying, "War is not the answer!"

As the home of Ben & Jerry's "Peace Pops," and with its staunchly liberal politics, Vermont would seem unlikely to rank first among states in soldier deaths per capita from the Iraq war. Yet it does. Motivated in part by those deaths, its citizens have become among the most outspoken against the war, with dozens of towns passing resolutions opposing it and numerous public protests and peace vigils, like the one every weeknight in front of the Burlington church. But those sentiments have some grieving families feeling left out in the cold.

The state's most active war protesters take pride in saying that they questioned the war long before others in the country did. And the number of solider deaths in their state "only adds fuel to the fire," says Debra Stoleroff, a member of PeaceVermont.

"All of this news of dying," says Nancy Brown, the Vermont coordinator of the national Military Families Speak Out. "This is a liberal state, so probably all along we've had a higher percentage of people against the war, but now we've reached the tipping point."

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