Really excellent piece by Rick Pearlstein. I, too, had a house in a rural town. In my case, the Catskills, and not the trendy/yuppy part of the Catskills—it was located in the area towards Binghamton, NY.

And there were a lot of veterans, military, and the family and friends who love them.

A very forgotten place. The kind of old town with Greek revivals, I had one (!) and a charming Main Street. The kind of place that has “so much potential”, but never truly gets there. The kind of town where older folks, many that are veterans, have adult kids that are either currently serving in the military, or are themselves veterans. The kind of area where people financially struggle and work long past retirement age. With multiple jobs.

Fox News everywhere. Everywhere. Like no escaping it. But, and this was in the early 2000s, they absolutely loved veterans, veteran stories. Understood military service and PTSD.