For "American Idol."
One-half decade and more than a million deployments later, many in the U.S. military complain that, while they remain very much at war, many other Americans remain very much oblivious.
Just one in four Americans know that nearly 4,000 U.S. service members have died in Iraq, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press. Respondents in the survey were given four answers from which to choose - meaning a randomly selected answer would have been just as accurate.
News coverage of the war has sunk to its lowest level ever - from about 15 percent of all stories in major newspapers in early 2007 to about 3 percent of last month's news, according to the News Content Index, a study of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, where thousands of protesters greeted President Bush during visits in 2005 and 2006, just about 75 people showed up for a Liberty Park vigil marking the five-year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. By comparison, more than 10,000 fans were expected for an arena football game at EnergySolutions Arena, just about a mile away.
"There just seems to be this overall numbness in this country about what is happening," said Jeremy King, of Salt Lake City. "It's important to keep the issue of the war in front of the country, but everyone seems so preoccupied."
And that bothers Paul Rieckhoff, a veteran of hundreds of Army combat patrols in Baghdad and the director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"No matter where you stand on the war, the very basic way to support the troops is to pay attention to the war," Rieckhoff said from his office in New York City, where some women sang songs and recited the names of the war dead outside a military recruiting station in Times Square, but were far outnumbered by shoppers, tourists and Broadway ticket buyers.
Though Iraq has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 U.S. service members and left tens of thousands of others wounded, Rieckhoff said that most Americans simply are not touched by the war.
"Less than one-half of one percent of Americans have served," in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rieckhoff noted. "In World War II, it was 12 percent. That's the difference right there."
Back at the Utah vigil, which took place a short distance from the World War II memorial marking the center of Liberty Park, Iraq veteran Jeff Key lamented the underwhelming turnout.
The former Marine said he didn't begrudge his fellow U.S. citizens for maintaining happy lives, but he noted that if Americans actually want to bring the troops home - and consistent polls show a substantial majority do - they need to get involved.
"I need these people to get off their butts, to get off the couch, and help me end this war," he said.
A few moments later, Key lifted a silver trumpet to his lips, sounding "Taps."
A nearby game of Frisbee continued undisturbed. And it went on long after the protesters had left the park.
mlaplante@sltrib.com
