CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Around the sprawling Fort Campbell Army installation that spans the Tennessee-Kentucky border, the conflict with Iran weighs heavily on residents’ minds in these military-focused communities.
Fort Campbell serves as headquarters for the 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed “the Screaming Eagles,” a unit that has played crucial roles in America’s major military engagements dating back to World War II. Following the September 11 attacks, thousands of soldiers from this installation began routine rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq. When troop levels increased in those nations, annual combat deaths within the division exceeded some of its most devastating periods during the Vietnam War.
The communities of Oak Grove, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee, border the installation and serve the soldier population with uniform shops, barber services, and quick-service restaurants. War remembrance displays and monuments occupy public parks throughout both cities. American Legion halls, VFW chapters, and military family assistance organizations dot the landscape. At Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, one-third of enrolled students have military backgrounds or are currently serving.
Juan Munoz, an Army veteran with Afghanistan experience who now provides career guidance for transitioning service members in Clarksville, describes area families as having “mixed emotions” regarding the current conflict. He notes that junior enlisted personnel often look forward to deployment opportunities, while their spouses, parents, and other relatives fear for their well-being.
“You can’t ever give up the concern for your loved one, who’s potentially putting themselves in harm’s way,” he explained. Despite these worries, families continue backing the Iran operation. “At the end of the day, they’re going to support their service member.”
Munoz characterized the war as a “great move,” arguing that Iran supplies weapons to adversaries, endangering American forces and regional partners.
“It’s what needs to be done,” he stated.
Edward Bauman, who completed 23 years of Army service with deployments to Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, shared his views Monday while speaking with media outside an Oak Grove retail store. His backing for the conflict stems from confidence in President Donald Trump’s judgment.
“My takeaway is there had to have been some reason for him to bomb them. I don’t think he would have just went out of his way to just, ‘I’m going to bomb these people’,” he remarked.
Bauman doubts Trump intends to launch another extended Middle Eastern campaign.
“It’s not going to be another Afghanistan. It’s not going to be another Iraq. We’re not going to go in and try to occupy them,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated Monday that the fighting “is not endless” while cautioning that additional American casualties are probable in coming weeks.
Shannon Razsadin, who heads the Virginia-based Military Family Advisory Network nonprofit, acknowledged “a good amount of stress and anxiety from the community just around the unknowns right now.”
Despite the tension, she emphasized, “They’re incredibly proud. Military families are proud of their service. And our military, our service members are prepared, and they are ready.”
Susan Lynn, a Tennessee state representative from Mount Juliet located approximately 70 miles southeast of the Army base, represents those proud yet worried family members. In 2020, she used Facebook to praise Trump for keeping her Air Force son out of “another war.” This past Saturday, she announced his deployment and requested prayers.
“From the time my son was a little boy, he wanted to be in the Air Force,” Lynn said during a Monday phone conversation. “He’s extremely patriotic. He will do anything to support our commander in chief. And I feel the same way. That if our commander in chief has made this executive decision, that this is something we should do, then I will trust that.”
Conversely, Chris McFarland, another Fort Campbell veteran with service in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan, actively demonstrates his opposition to the Iran war. Upon learning of the conflict, he commissioned a “No more wars” sign and has displayed it daily along a busy Clarksville street.
McFarland, who directs Veterans for All, a nonprofit focused on veteran healthcare advocacy, reports encountering some hostile reactions from passing motorists during his demonstrations, though others stop for discussions. Many seek additional information about current events.
He describes them as “in shock, confused, concerned.”
McFarland speaks bluntly about his personal reaction to the Iran strikes.
“It is 100% unnecessary. It is unconstitutional. Literally, our own Congress didn’t even approve of this. This was done without anyone’s acknowledgement at 3:00 in the morning to murder people over in Iran.”
For combat veterans like himself, he explains, the prospect of renewed warfare triggers difficult memories.
“It just puts us right back in, right back at ground zero.”
