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Professor Feaver said that discontent tended to be even greater among short-term recruits and even more among reservists, who never expected be called to war for such a long period.
"The president is on probation with military voters," he said.
This ambivalence seems particularly startling to hear at Fort Campbell, a huge base that straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border, where the ideas of God, country and service permeate the air like oxygen. Flags, churches and soldiers in fatigues are more numerous than civilians on the main drag. Nearly every store and billboard on Fort Campbell Boulevard sports a sign paying homage to the troops or God or country, and there seems to be little difference among those concepts.
A Verizon advertisement proclaims: "Thank you 101st Airborne, for allowing us all to speak freely." On a U.S. Bank: "Thank you Fort Campbell." On Mugsy's Coffee Shop is a message to returning troops: "Welcome Home. Try Charbucks Dark Roast." In the parking lot of the Dollar General convenience store: "Victory USA, God is With Us."
The 101st Airborne based here has been a mainstay of American forces in Iraq, a company of dedicated soldiers.
But even in this world of patriots committed to the hardships of military life, the deepening conflict has produced a sense of exasperation and exhaustion.
Still, many say they continue to support the president even if they do not like how the war has played out for them. "Everybody here is feeling like it's enough already and we're scared because we think now we may need to go back; we're asking, `Why, why, why us?' " said Tina Johnson, 22, whose husband spent six months in Iraq with the 101st last year. "We say `grrrrrr' about it, but we are behind George Bush. We understand that it was necessary to go."
Two weeks ago President Bush made a visit here to thank the soldiers and to bestow medals. Some soldiers said they were buoyed by the attention. But many relatives said it was not enough to win their vote.
Brittany Wood, 19, whose stepfather has spent most of the past 18 months in Iraq, said she was a Bush supporter a year ago. Though she still "loves the President, since he's serving his country," she said she would vote for Mr. Kerry this fall.
"I was glad we were doing this because we need to help other countries fight for freedom, but now lots of people feel there's been a cover-up and it is a lie and we were not told the real reasons for being in Iraq," Ms. Wood said. "That is making a lot of soldiers and their families think about voting. And for the first time they're thinking about voting Democratic."
Part of the ambivalence about the war and the election is driven by the personal hardship endured by families here, as parents and spouses are far away. Ms. Wood, a university student, helps her grandmother run an on-base day care center. "Now you have kids growing up without mothers," she said.
Such feelings, many say, were greatly inflamed by the length of the conflict. They have also been exacerbated by the failure to find unconventional weapons in Iraq and by the rising number of deaths, particularly grisly ones, in recent weeks.
Near the base here, soldiers themselves refused to discuss the war publicly. One newly minted mortarman, who refused to give his name, said he thought the president was doing a fantastic job and that the United States would triumph since it had "the strongest Army in the world." Another soldier, a sandy-haired man in civilian clothes, said, "I just got back two weeks ago and I'm not prepared to talk about it."
Many wives said their husbands would continue to serve and to support Mr. Bush because they viewed it as their duty.
On both sides of the issue, the tension was clear, with voters chafing in response to questions about the recent deaths: "Don't ask me; it's a total mess that should have been done a long time ago," said Mike Snapp, who has many cousins in Iraq. "It hasn't accomplished anything except messing up families."
Of Mr. Bush, he said, "It will sure lose him votes around here."
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