Dear Friends,
Today America honors its veterans. November 11 is also the feast of St. Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier of the fourth century. On a freezing day at the city gates he met a beggar with almost nothing on. Martin had nothing to give but his military cloak, so he cut it in half with his sword and gave half away. That night, the story goes, Christ appeared to him wearing it.
Our friend Andy Cannon told that story last weekend at a dinner for the airmen and families of Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, and it has stayed with us. A soldier's first instinct, in that story, is to protect someone colder and weaker than himself.
To every American who has worn the uniform, and to the families who served alongside them: thank you. As Andy put it, the only reason most of us can sit down to a quiet dinner, build a career, or go back to school is that someone else stands watch.
This year we also think of the men and women standing watch in Ukraine. Today is the 1,721st day of Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine now has about 1.8 million registered veterans, and the number grows every week. For a fifth winter, Russia is aiming its drones and missiles at power plants and water systems, trying to freeze Ukrainians into surrender. Earlier this month an attack left Kyiv without water. Talks continue, but Moscow's demands have not changed.
St. Thomas Aquinas taught that the heart of courage, which he called fortitude, is not the dramatic charge. It is endurance: holding steady through hard things for the long haul. Ukraine's defenders have shown that courage. So have their families: spouses who keep households running through blackouts, children who do homework in shelters, families of the missing still waiting for news, and families of the fallen. No one pins a medal on them.
Ukraine's veterans come home with the same qualities America's veterans bring back. They lead people they didn't choose, stay calm under pressure, and finish what they start. Ukraine's recovery will rest on them. Some American veterans have gone to stand beside them, and some have not come home.
Like Martin, we can share our cloak. This winter, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation is sending warmth to Ukraine's children and most vulnerable, together with TAPS Ukraine, which supports the families of fallen defenders, and Mental Help Global.
To the veterans of both our countries, and to their families: thank you. God bless you, God bless Ukraine, and God bless the United States of America.
Nadia McConnell
President, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation has embraced the Forget-me-not flower as a symbol of Ukrainian children stolen by Russia—and of all victims of Putin’s brutal war.