Crossposted from Buffalo Ridge blog
It's hard to find a place safer from terrorist attack than the Buffalo Ridge- no population centers, military bases, or even critical big bridges to tempt a terrorist. But the folks of the Buffalo Ridge responded, as rural folks always have, to serve their country. Today I passed through Madison, Minnesota, a town with barely a thousand souls and an armory that rivals Minneapolis'. And a busy armory it was, as soldiers gave up a lovely sunday afternoon to move what looked to be a couple of 150 millimeter or so artillery pieces.
Why? First, it comes naturally- since Minnesota answered the union's call in the Civil War our rural areas have produced servicemen and women in numbers far out of proportion to our meager population. And then there's the rural economy- Minimum wage is darn near the median wage out here, and though the military pay rivals Walmart's, the benefits are a lot better. Then there's the enlistment and reenlistment bonuses- $20,000 to enlist or reup is common. That's over a years pay at minimum wage. Survive twenty years of military life and you get a halfway decent pension. Or, given the continuing wars, you could very well come back with TMI or PTSD or another of the alphabet soup of combat caused disabilities.
So folks volunteer to serve, or maybe take a gamble that they'll survive the military halfway whole and return to the Buffalo Ridge with that halfway decent pension and buy a decent home with the re/enlistment bonuses they've hopefully invested. Or maybe they'll be up all night again tonight, trying to escape the demons of PTSD or in too much pain to sleep from traumatic brain injuries. Such is the status of the job market on the Buffalo Ridge...