Watch Part 2

When the town of Anniston, Alabama, was founded it was  nicknamed the "model city" in reference to the aim of being a model industrial town that promised fair wages and a good standard of living.

However the only industry that came to town, and has maintained a permanent presence, is the US military.

Alabama is an area that prides itself on military service, a tradition maintained through the generations. But following the end of the Cold War many bases in the south were closed down at the cost of thousands of jobs.

Anniston escaped the worst of the cutbacks and the US army's main repair facility is still housed in the town - a complex covering an area the size of Manhattan.

Although the town has profited in a commercial sense from the US-led war in Iraq, it has also suffered.

A quarter of all casualties in the war come from the south-east corner of the United States.

In the final part of On War former marine Josh Rushing visits Anniston and explores the blessing and burden conflict bestows on the town.