For reasons no expert seems able to explain completely, this decade has seen an exodus of military veterans to rural areas. About one-third now live outside metropolitan areas, compared to only one-fourth in 2000, according to Department of Veterans Affairs data reported by Mike Swift of the San Jose Mercury News. Nationally, rural areas have only a fifth of the total population.
"Even though there are 3.2 million fewer veterans than in 2000, there are 1.3 million more of them living in rural America, a 20-percent surge," Swift writes. "V.A. demographers cannot completely explain the rapid shift," though one reason is probably that "veterans leaving the service tend to settle near a military installation," and several West Coast bases have been closed, leaving a greater concentration of bases in the Southeast, the nation's most rural region. Also, Vietnam veterans are reaching retirement age.
"The rural growth is particularly striking among Vietnam-era veterans where their numbers are up in rural states like Montana, Idaho and even South Dakota," Swift reports. He quotes one: "They like to be someplace where it's quiet and comfortable, without a lot of outside interference. There's a lot of difference between the hustle and bustle of the city and being in the countryside." (Read more)
Swift's story is also about the difficulty veterans' groups have maintaining American Legion and VFW posts in some areas. Sounds like a good place to start your own reporting, along with the VA data. (Hat tip to the Daily Yonder)
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