Letter from Kate Ahrens

Sign Law Vote a Clear Message

It’s hard to explain the feeling of being a stranger on the streets of your own hometown, carrying experiences and loneliness that few understand and fewer want to hear about. Whether it was just a few years or an entire career, no veteran returns home unchanged after wearing the cloth of our nation. For many, returning home is a bittersweet experience, marked by both familiar surroundings and a profound sense of isolation. Recognition of a veteran’s service by members of their community is invaluable for their mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Since the Vietnam draft, poorer communities have borne the brunt of military service. This is particularly notable in rural areas like Otsego County. One need look no further than over the hill to Hartwick or the northern reaches of Richfield to see the distinctions and scars of service in individual communities. Cooperstown is no different, though it seems it would like to be.

By keeping its veteran population faceless and nameless, the Cooperstown Village Board has actively chosen to widen divisions and isolate an essential part of its own community. To maintain its idyllic façade, Cooperstown will continue to hide the contributions and sacrifices its community members have made in preserving American democracy.

In denying an amendment to the sign law, Cooperstown has sent a clear message to its Hometown Heroes—that a pristine appearance is more important than their service and sacrifices.

Kate Ahrens
New Haven, Connecticut

Kate Ahrens is a 2006 Cooperstown Central School graduate, a J.D. candidate at Yale Law School, and a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. She served on active duty in the United States Coast Guard for more than 14 years.