WV historically has a high enlistment rate and death rate in war.

Of those top 5 I can only recall one person from any of them (Utah) that met during my 3 years.

And I call Bull Shit.

So convenient that the "Most Patriotic" states are also places with fewer opportunities for young people - Especially young people from families without the resources to fund an out of state college education - Or really any college education.

Look there are many reasons to consider joining the military- and yes patriotism is a big one.

As is family tradition, the desire to challenge yourself and escaping bad family situations - all those also come into play.

But the number one reason kids told me that they joined was always -"My town was dead, there were no jobs except Walmart" or fast food or a gas station or whatever dead end low wage shit job you want to name.

So they join to learn a skill, get some experience, hit the reset button on their life and start up again in a few years with a head start.

A lot of us find out we love it and stay for a career. Some of us fuck up and get the boot. Most folks just do a tour and walk away in a better place.

But none of that makes enlistment rates indicative the patriotism of a damn area as big as a damn state.

It indicates a lack of non-farm jobs and a large percentage of the population in the working class more than anything else.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, WalletHub is a bucket of asshole anyway IMHO

But I also find it interesting that the study did not include officers. Which tends to back up your comments.

I live in Vermont, one of the states mentioned. It’s true that some young men and women join the military for economic opportunity. It’s also true that Vermont has a very long history of citizen’s service.

I live in a very small town and there are flags flying everywhere. In the neighboring village (left-leaning, I might add) there is a flag flying on nearly every house on Main Street. Our local newspaper has a weekly section listing names and addresses of every Vermonter currently serving. Local businesses that are able, give generous discounts to military members and their spouses.
There are a zillion veteran’s license plates around here. My car has a bumper sticker that reads “It’s never too late to thank a Vietnam Vet” even though I protested that war.

Lots of history buffs around these parts so I’ve seen a good many Vermont Civil War uniforms, diaries and old field desks.

Patriotism is everywhere in this country, from the Marines who ride their motorcycles in Laconia, New Hampshire, to the school children filling boxes for soldiers here in Vermont. There are women’s auxiliaries, coin drops for the DAV, volunteers helping homeless vets, and more.

It’s sometimes difficult to see all the good around us after a daily, mind-numbing onslaught of Donald Trump spitting on America.

I am not saying that patriotism plays no role in motivating people to join the Armed Forces.

I am not saying that the states named are somehow un-patriotic or less patriotic either...

Rather, I am saying that using the percentage of young people who enlist as the deciding factor for measuring an entire State's patriotic fervor is dumb.

I grew up in rural southwestern PA - between Wheeling and Washington - we can match up with anywhere when it comes to flags and veteran's charities and the like and we always have a bunch of volunteers joining the military.

But it'd be a lower enlistment rate by far if the mills were still running or the mines were hiring.

That's all I'm saying

I was a bit older, 23 years old, joined so I could feed my kids and my wife. Patriotism didn't even factor in.

I was bored with college and didn't know what I wanted to do as far as a job went. So I enlisted for 4 years. It did not have anything to do with patriotism. After 4 years I was bored with the army so I didn't re-enlist. Now after 24 years of service-connected disability I am bored and learning to box at age 76. 15-20 years of that and I will probably get bored again and have to find something new to do. Like others, I don't think that patriotism has as much to do with enlistments as the economic reasons.

I grew up in a center-right household the the 80s and 90s. Through my skewed world view, I saw joining the military as a way to be on the front lines of making the world a better place. I ate up the whole “real American hero” thing of G.I. Joe and mottos of groups like the Green Berets “de oppresso libre” (liberator of the oppressed). In 1997, when I first enlisted, I wanted to be involved in peacekeeping missions like those of Bosnia and Kosovo. I wanted to stop genocide and create opportunity for people who were unable to do so themselves.

When it came to joining, patriotism was a distant second or third consideration for me.

It didn’t work out that way, but that was my intention. Anyways, as an officer (of the Infantry variety) my service apparently doesn’t mean anything according to this survey