The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has done a great story on the rates of military service from county to county. The paper's analysis "found that rural America continues to be fertile ground for recruiters, including in Missouri and Illinois, where many young people see the armed forces as a way to escape poverty or the lack of opportunity in their hometowns." The paper found that Menominee County in Wisconsisn "provided more soldiers to the Army over the last four years than any other county in the nation without a major Army installation." Menominee County is home to the Menominee tribe. Native Americans have high rates of enlistment in the military nationally, but this Wisconsin county is special. Menominee is also one of the poorest counties in the nation, with an unemployment rate more than twice the national average. The Post-Dispatch carries stories about other counties with high recruitment rates. And you can find the rates for you county here. Very good stuff.