Can we survive these disappointing times?

In the 1980s and ‘90s, I spent 10 years in uniform, stationed in Europe. The Soviets had gobbled up much of Eastern and Central Europe after World War II. They were the Warsaw Pact. We were NATO. And we were ready to go to war to stop further expansion.

We were elated when cracks in the Soviet system started to show. There was trouble in the Caucasus, and protests in the Baltics. Soon the Berlin Wall came down spectacularly, as people from Romania, Czechoslovakia and other nations began pouring through the borders. I cannot tell you how exhilarating it was to turn on the BBC to watch the footage. We were on the right side of history, and everything was breaking our way.

For reasons too many to go into here, Glasnost Russia was short-lived, and a strong man again rose to power.

But now, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, one information silo has persuaded some in the American public that Ukraine is the aggressor in this terrible war. That the U.S. should not be aiding a country whose young men are dying, fighting that same evil we trained to fight all these years ago.

I’m puzzled and saddened by Americans cheering on a president demanding concessions for aiding a country in need; seeing this as the shrewd tactics of a deal maker. Demanding payment for doing what is right. Demanding gratitude, like a cheap mob boss.

Maybe that’s at the heart of my disappointment; where we once stood for freedom at any cost, we now expect payment and fealty of a man who told President Biden that he did not want a ride to safety, but the ammunition and support to stay and fight.

This is a very sad time, and I hope we survive it.

Patrick J. Dickson

Lindenhurst