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That war rewound us
Politics, like shrapnel, finds its way in.
I stopped watching the news the way a man stops visiting the burned-out remains of a house he once loved — too much ash, too many ghosts still speaking through the walls.
It wasn’t a decision. More like a pulse-level warning. The anchor’s voice would start, and my chest would tighten as if memory had teeth. I thought it was politics that disturbed me. But no — it was betrayal, wearing polished shoes.
“Let’s not get political,” someone said over pie one Thanksgiving. I nodded, chewing like silence was something digestible. But silence has never sat well in my gut. It’s a quiet accomplice. A soft-voiced wound.
Mr. Feori’s yardstick cracked against the map when I was 17. “Vietnam,” he said. “You’ll find it soon enough.” And I did — on my belly, in a jungle that still hums behind my ribs.
What came home with me? A metallic taste. Dreams burned at the edges. A silence that never quite stopped humming. And the sense that I had been used by men who still call themselves patriots.
We were told we were the tip of the spear. But I was a number, a signature on someone else’s strategy. At Phu Bai, the sergeant major said: “You? Replaceable. That chopper? Millions.” He wasn’t cruel. Just honest. And that was worse.
Years passed. I got good at pretending I understood what it was all for. Had a child. Laughed in bars. Avoided the mirror that asked what it had cost me to believe.
They gave me a medal that shines, but it doesn’t point anywhere. No compass. No closure.
Now I see it — how that war rewired us. Not just me. The whole country. A spell cast over a generation that made questioning feel like betrayal. We’ve all learned to smile through the dissonance.
Today, children die in schools, and it’s folded into the language of liberty. Bombs are blessings if labeled properly. “Aid.” “Support.” “Freedom.” We sell morality like stock, and the silence is bought with slogans.
And still, at barbecues, someone says, “Let’s not talk politics.”
But the war comes anyway — in memory, in dream, in the space between sentences. It’s in the way a flag waves too hard on a lawn while a neighbor barely looks at his wife. It’s in the prayer that’s more loyalty pledge than longing for the holy.
Yeats was right: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” That line shows up like shrapnel — uninvited, but always precise.
I want to stand up, say aloud: “I killed for politicians. I believed them. They lied.”
But I sip my coffee instead. Nod politely. Wait for the moment to pass.
Still, I know: some truths never vanish. They just wait beneath the tablecloth, under the anthem,
behind the sermon — sharp, glowing, and entirely unfinished..
Larry Winters
New Paltz
A plan that is no plan
The second, and regrettably last, public hearing for the Winston Farm DGEIS is Wednesday July 16th, at 6pm at the Saugerties Senior Center at 6pm. The public comment period ends July 28th, and written comments may be submitted until that date to winstonfarmcomments@saugertiesny.gov.
Participating in how land is used in our community is one of the most important civic actions you can take. What happens on Winston Farm will shape the character of Saugerties and the ecological changes will be irrevocable. The DGEIS which the sponsors (owners) have produced and which can be read at the library and on the town board website is filled with contradictions and inconsistencies, and does not provide details on mitigation measures.
There is no “plan” in the Planned Development District” (PDD). It says so right in the introduction: “The Project Sponsor is not proposing to develop the project at this time,” and “adoption of the PDD zoning law will allow the project sponsors to market the site That means actual developers, from who-knows-where. The unplanned-PDD (Appendix P of the DGEIS) is a risible list of projects ranging from an amphitheater (yes, that’s back in there again, and contradicts the introduction) to a medical center, to research and development, laboratories, warehousing, storage and distribution, and too many others to include in this letter.
I sorely wish more people would read the DGEIS or at least part of it and see this for themselves. If you don’t have time, you can go to beautifulsaugerties.com for analysis and critique from residents of Saugerties who have read it. If you agree with it, you’re welcome to use it.
Environmental impacts of a plan cannot be assessed when there is no plan. The so-called “thresholds” proposed are vague and the document filled with language such as preserving natural habitats “to the maximum extent practicable” – far from the specific mitigation language that should be required, and wholly insufficient to guide future development on a scale of this magnitude, on land that sits atop an irreplaceable aquifer that is a water source, irreplaceable forests that filter our air and regulate the temperature, wetlands that are natural flood managers, and grasslands that are a carbon sink; and which all together which create a biodiverse ecosystem that humans depend on for health and safety and a survivable future. The Town previously committed to preserving 73% of Winston Farm and that must be adhered to as contiguous open space.
The current DGEIS is a request for rezoning, which as currently proposed, is a green light for unplanned over-development. That is why I, among others, are requesting the town board to not approve the rezoning as currently proposed. This is not the same as not developing at all, and that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying no to doing it like this. At the very least, given the complexity of this DGEIS and the magnitude of the implications, the 120-day extension to public comment period, as requested by Catskill Mountainkeeper, the Woodstock Land Conservancy, and the Hudson Valley chapter of the Sierra Club, all interested parties in the SEQRA process, should be granted.
Margarita Asiain
Saugerties
Who are the most useful idiots?
I am so sick and tired of those who willfully deny what is being done to the Palestinians by the Israeli government. The latest defense of Israeli ethnic cleansing and the right to avenge October 7th by all-out genocide in Susan Puretz’ letter to this paper was so sickening and so typical of the iron wall of denial she has erected that it would be best to simply ignore her, but such supremacist diatribes must be shot down, even repeatedly, since they contain such stark untruths.
The only point I agree with her on is that Fred got it wrong when he claimed that “even the Nazis felt shame.” That is highly questionable, since they went about The Final Solution with business-like efficiency, and with the Teutonic banality Hannah Arendt wrote about — with the opposite of shame, more like Fascist glee. Otherwise, though, how do we, Jews and non-Jews, ignore what the media point out daily: that Gaza has become “a graveyard for children,” that the food distribution has become a choice for Gazans of starving to death or being shot to death in a human mousetrap, and that Palestinian doctors, journalists and academics are murdered regularly in targeted killings? How does this achieve the supposed aim of destroying Hamas?
It seems to me that what it destroys is American credibility, much like it did when we bombed Vietnam “into the Stone Age” on direct orders from our own leadership.
I was called a “useful idiot” by an Israeli-American woman who insisted that “no Israeli Jews” killed Palestinain innocents. This was not long after October 7th.
It is a well-worn Israeli talking point when they confront “progressive” Jews who don’t jump on their “our way or the highway” bandwagon. It seems to me the most “useful idiots” are those who deny reality in order to defend the indefensible.
Martin Haber
Woodstock
Conspiracy allegations
Attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI deputy director and former podcaster Dan Bongino are straining for credibility in their insistence that the Epstein “client list” is a nothing burger after devoting considerable energy and attention to not only confirming the existence of the list but hinting at its blockbuster contents. Bondi is Trump’s puppet. Trump used to party with Epstein at Mar-A-Go-Go and was accused of raping an underage girl, but the case was buried. There will be no truth to the matter with Trump puppet Bondi at the head of our Justice Department … speaking of soured smelling crap coming from the DOJ.
They spent years hyping up the Epstein file to conspiracy theorists, then they just turned around and went “nothing to see here!” MAGA leadership hyped the Epstein coverup. Now Trump denies any coverup as he walks it back.
It appears to have boomeranged on Trump. Sorry, Cheeto, but you can’t just brush this off. “Jeffrey who? Don’t even know the guy. You know, when you’re a star, everyone wants a picture with you and says they met you.”
The man who creates conspiracies has a big one of his own. “Denial is not a river in Egypt.” Of course he wants it to end, but he forgets the adage, “Don’t let your sins find you out.” Transparency doubletalk with the current administration. There has been a lot of this. Do your homework. Time doth pitter-patter along.
I love that they are twisting themselves into pretzels to “fix” the unfixable. It can’t be covered up.
Whatever the truth may be, liars from the Trump administration have zero credibility. New MAGA folks are now in meltdown over the old guard becoming the new swamp in Washington, D.C.
We know they were birds of similar feathers based on their likes, photographs and videos. It is common knowledge that Trump never used a condom when having affairs. If anyone spots a child 19 to 25 years old with a face that resembles Trump’s rear, they should notify the press.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Dual experience
Not only did I lose my virginity, I lost someone else’s virginity as well.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Village and town “families”
During the June 5 public hearing on annexation for the proposed New Paltz Apartments complex, it became clear that our town-wide community would benefit from an updated and more appropriate definition of “family” in our zoning codes.
I find it disheartening when detractors of projects before our planning or legislative boards argue against projects using dated, discriminatory, un-New Paltz and legally impermissible definitions of “family.”
The proposed New Paltz Apartments annexation includes 200 housing units (612 bedrooms), including 30 affordable units per village law (15 percent). The current proposal has the village’s planning and affordable housing boards determining which of the units will be affordable.
Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals disfavor narrowly drawn definitions of “family.” Courts have held that it is impermissible to discriminate against groups of people living together based on whether or not they are related by blood or marriage. In essence, if a group of people is sharing a kitchen and living space, they should be treated like any other family, provided that safety-related criteria, such as parking-limit violations, overcrowding, and/or state Uniform Building and Fire Code violations do not exist.
Last year on April 10, 2024, our village board adopted a position statement for the appropriate definition of “family.” We used this statement to create a proposed updated definition of the term “family” to codify in zoning.
Campaign promise: If I’m elected supervisor, I will work immediately and propose changing the definition of “family” for the town, too.
Mayor Tim Rogers
Village of New Paltz
The beauty of the Catskills
The most recent churning of the SEQRA vat in the Winston Farm saga is the opportunity for the public to comment on the project sponsor’s latest DGEIS. In this, we are to seek threshold limits for proposed re-zoning of the area.
This is extremely challenging, given the absence of a master plan or project design, but two threshold limits that could be looked at are amount of open space and the water capacity of the area. There are significant natural limits bearing upon open space, and these have prompted the development of the aquifer protection and sensitive area overlays.
Despite the outrageous assertion in the sponsor’s draft zoning regulation that it would supersede the limitations of these overlays, they should be respected, no matter what the new zoning looks like. For ecological and economical reasons, much more open space must be preserved. And the water analysis, despite their claims, shows insufficiencies.
Recently I attended an excellent Friends of Historic Saugerties presentation at the Saugerties Library, the focus of which was the Catskill Mountain House. The historical context in which this tremendous project arose was one of discovery and celebration of the extraordinary beauty of the Catskills. Indeed, this hotel and its environs was on the list of every prominent member of early 19th-century society as a must-see rivaling the great sites of Europe.
A magazine article written during this time extolled the virtues and necessity of preserving scenic beauty, not just for tourism, but also for the sake of sustaining who we are as a culture (and one might add today, who we are as a species). These words have resonance when we consider what development of Winston Farm should look like. Much of our economy is still built on tourism, and visitors coming to our area want to see the natural beauty of the Catskills, not strip malls and ticky-tacky housing tracts. And doesn’t that have resonance for us, too, when considering where we want to live?
Bill Barr
Saugerties
Slate should be wiped clean
Many people in Woodstock are upset that the town has promoted a member of the maintenance department from part-time to full-time. although the employee is on the Sex Offender Registry.
I support the hiring and promoting of anyone qualified for the job even if they are required to register on the Sex Offender Registry. My close friend is the mother of such a man. My friend’s son served 16 years for the offense he committed.
The public defender who advocated for him had another client who committed a similar offense but received only a one-year sentence. When the prosecutor was asked why the discrepancy in sentences, she responded: “Mr. X did not admit to his crime so I couldn’t give him a long sentence, but Mr. Y (my friend’s son) admitted his guilt because he wanted to take responsibility for the harm he had caused) so I could throw the the book at him.”
People who are required to register on the Sex Offender Registry find it very difficult to find housing. Many become homeless. Luckily my friend’s son found a small organization in her city that provides housing for people on the registry. Because of the support of this organization, and the fact that he had some inheritance money (the majority of people coming out of prison have no money to start with), her son can rent a room in a house with other men on the registry.
Finding gainful employment is another obstacle people on the registry face. Many organizations who are willing to offer employment to people coming out of prison will not hire someone on the registry. Once again, my friend’s son had a fortuitous connection with someone he knew in prison who has started his own paralegal business, so he is happily employed.
Most are not so lucky. They end up with menial jobs, doing hard labor, or working in hazardous conditions, if they find work at all. If a person pays the price imposed by the system that condemned them, rightly or wrongly, in the first place, their slate should be wiped clean.
Marta Szabo
Woodstock
A month to remember
Oh, what a June! Let’s review just some of the events of June 2025: Gun Violence Prevention Month, PRIDE Month, Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Do you know of others? Then specifically: currently ongoing in Congress are negotiations and discussions regarding the budget reconciliation bill and implementation of the War Powers Act, June 14; No Kings Day actions, June 20: World Refugee Day; six executions (Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, So. Carolina), June 29.
Do you know of others? Are these of concern to you: congressional budgetary considerations, the powers of the three co-equal branches of our government, immigration actions and policies, decisions relating to war/peace and those affected by wars. funding for mental-health promotion and treatment, the death penalty, nuclear weapons (this is a great time to lobby for all nations to sign, enforce, and honor the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons)?
Do you know of other issues? If any of these concern you, contact senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and congressperson Pat Ryan through the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121). Consider contacting Death Penalty Action and Catholic Mobilizing Network regarding executions.
At the same time, let us have joy/hope when thinking of the graduations and moving-up ceremonies of our youth. Do you realize that there are groups of young people and senior citizens meeting to discuss and act upon issues on local and societal levels? And, Veterans for Peace (plus many allies) has just concluded a 40-day fast for Gaza. Many non-profit organizations are providing aid to the poorest regions on our planet, as well. Or, just notice the importance of those that you encounter — of any age — and offer a greeting as some sort of connection and acknowledgement.
Each day is a chance to encounter all beings with compassion. What does July hold for us all?
Terence Lover
Woodstock
Something wonderful in Saugerties
Every Saturday at noon in Saugerties, something special takes place at the corner of Main and Market streets.
People gather to express their love for democracy and disdain for the current cruel, fascistic administration. There is however, so much more going on. The weekly gathering has become a place for interesting ideas and fascinating conversation.
I’ve stood near someone who taught me some of the interesting business aspects of solar energy. Then there was the woman who told me that her 102-year-old mother still watches Yankees games. Another conversation enlightened me about repairs to ripped jeans. It goes on and on … you get the picture!
Come join us every Saturday at noon, Main and Market streets, Saugerties. Support democracy and prepare to feel good.
Jerry Cohen
Saugerties
McKenna never stops
From HV1: “It dawned on me Monday at about 3 a.m. that Juneteenth would be an issue,” Bill McKenna said. “We decided Friday would be a better day. It’s typically a slower day. It was not a slight.
I actually believe McKenna when he says it was not a slight. But let’s not pretend this was about honoring Juneteenth in spirit. What seems more likely is that he preferred a three-day weekend to taking Thursday off and coming back Friday. Choosing comfort over cultural truth in a town that preaches progressive values speaks volumes. Call it what it is: a calculated long weekend dressed up as inclusive leadership.
Additionally, as far as his saying “From now on, Juneteenth will be observed June 19,” I also believe that, especially since he won’t be around next year.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Praising Fred Nagel
Regarding the letter to the editor by Susan Puretz “Attacking Fred Nagel” in last week’s issue of HV1, this is my response: After reading Fred Nagel’s June 25th letter, my faith in humanity was lifted somewhat by Fred’s obvious righteous indignation of the daily slaughter of innocent children and civilians being committed by Israel with the unswerving support of bought off U.S. politicians.
His are not his own speculations, but facts on the record that can be looked up and verified. It has become a well-known fact that AIPAC, the Israeli political action committee, mandates “pledges” from US politicians to be loyal to Israel, or else AIPAC will finance campaigns against their re-election bids with millions of dollars. This is exactly what happened to ex-congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and others who refused to be forced to sign any such pledges.
Those that will sign these undemocratic pledges will be rewarded with financial support. This is what Fred was referring to and not a conspiracy theory invented by him as Zionist/genocide supporter Susan Peretz insinuates.
Furthermore whether or not one was a witness or victim of the October 7 Nova Music Festival massacre does not give one the right to commit war crimes and genocide against innocent children and civilians, as Ms. Puretz seems to assert. I was initially horrified and shocked by what I saw happened at the music festival by roaming Hamas invaders. Two hundred free-spirited young Israeli attendees were unmercifully slaughtered. That being said, I am even more horrified and shocked by tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian children being bombed, burned, denied medical care, and now being starved to death — which Fred was writing about and anyone with a conscience should be.
No, Ms. Puretz, the slaughter that happened in one day at the music festival, as horrible as it was, does not compare with the ongoing slaughter and genocide happening to the Palestinian children which has been happening for almost two years.
What has happened to our shared humanity that allows this Zionist “work of darkness” to continue for this long unabated? Shame on anyone, especially U.S. politicians, who support this genocide as Ms. Puretz’s factless letter apparently does. Genocide is not self-defense, and ethnic cleansing is a war crime no matter how you look at it.
Ms. Puretz is the one who “needs to get a life” and stop supporting daily death en masse of innocent children. My saying that is not anti-Semitic but pro-life.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Too many unknowns
Regarding a recent post that was very disturbing on the Town of Saugerties website that is entitled “Winston Farm DGEIS – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Updated: June 24, 2025.”
I have read the FAQs and answers many times looking for reassurance about serious concerns about Winston Farm development.
Common sense reveals the contradiction on that page: In the current DGEIS, rezoning comes first, a Master Development Plan comes only after Planned Development District (PDD) approval, and the PDD, as currently proposed, and its “regulations”, will become law with its proviso that it will override, should there be a dispute, critical sensitive overlay districts – areas that should be protected for everyone’s sake. The FAQ page is “putting the cart before the horse” in patronizing legalese, and seems to make a virtue out of not being specific. There are simply too many reassurances made here on too many unknowns.
To my ear: “Don’t worry, citizens, let’s just bypass all the issues raised by outside experts on this sensitive environment, rely on low ‘thresholds’ that are self-serving to developers, let the town board change the zoning, and the almighty PDD will guide the board into making all the most perfect decisions for your future.”
By this process, I’m afraid that all projects adopted by future-buying-in developers will be affected by the implications of this PDD, even if each of them has to present a new DGEIS every time. And it must be restated here. The future developers are not the “good guys” that everyone knows. They will not have the attachment and love for Saugerties that we have.
I encourage townspeople of all persuasions on this issue to review these FAQ “answers” with a critical eye, or at least ask the board for more time to review the actual DGEIS carefully rather than accept the summarized, glossed-over version on the Winston Farm Facebook page. I recommend, at the very least, that townspeople review page 165 of the DGEIS, where only three ‘thresholds’ are set forth, and they are very inadequate, in my view.
But see for yourself. Luckily we still have time to write to the town board up till July 28th with our concerns at this email address: https://saugerties.ny.us/other/winston-farm
Furthermore, dear fellow townspeople, the PDD of the owners does not specify how land is to be used at the outset. And if the Winston Farm proposed rezoning is adopted, the district’s land uses may be commented upon by us folks only one time 30 days after review by the town planning board. If the master development plan is accepted by the town board, too much will be left to the town board and the town planning board’s discretion, in my view.
I have stated in a prior letter to HV1, and I agree with Fred Costello, as printed in the June 25th issue, that I appreciate the fact that the project sponsors have been willing to dialogue and are attempting to “… give the community what it’s asking for.”
Mr. Costello also adds “ … Under its current zoning restrictions, Winston Farm could become something the community wouldn’t like.” To that statement I would ask: Is the fear of that possibility a carrot or a stick, and for whom? As citizens, let’s not embrace the current proposal in fear, nor should we embrace inappropriate rezoning that benefits the future developers more than the townspeople.
The entire community must become fully engaged in this because the project sponsors are the only ones who can facilitate the transformation of Winston Farm into something that breaks everyone’s hearts — or into a legacy we can all be proud of.
Joanne Pagano Weber
Saugerties
Join the family! 
