Dear Editor:
In his letter to the editor (February 28), Denys Petrina writes, “I don’t understand why Americans of Ukrainian descent ‘should’ be patriotic for a foreign land.”
I do agree that as a U.S.-born American citizen, I am not obligated or required to be involved in the U.S. political process, whether it pertains to U.S.-Ukraine relations or any other domestic or foreign policy issue that we face in the United States. I too have several post-graduate degrees (irrelevant), and am a registered voter (possibly relevant) and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy (irrelevant). However, many of us Americans, whose ancestors arrived in the United States from a foreign country, have both the right and the choice as U.S. citizens to engage our politicians and fellow citizens in issues involving U.S. support for Ukraine, both in the context of our personal perception of American interests, as well as our sentimental attachment to our ancestral homeland.
I, personally, am careful not to dictate to Ukrainian citizens for whom they should vote in their elections, or pass judgment on their choices or sentiments. However, Oleh Wolowyna, Orest Deychakiwsky and Andrij Dobriansky absolutely have the constitutional right to encourage that American citizens of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian background support Ukraine.
Whether we have an obligation to be engaged in the political process, or financially support U.S. 501 (c)(3) non-profit organizations that provide assistance to Ukraine, is a matter of personal choice. For me it is not just a choice, but an obligation. That, in part, has to do with keeping an oath that I took as a youth at one of those Plast camps some years back in Middlefield, Ohio.
I know my home country is the United States, I know who built the submarines I rode in and whose sailors kept me safe under the surface. Recently I have met and befriended several of the wounded Ukrainian warriors who are being cared for at the same U.S. military hospital that I served in a few decades ago. Their presence and experience not only gives me inspiration, but also reinforces my belief that support of Ukraine is in the security interests of not only the U.S., but the rest of the planet.
The fact that Ukraine is an independent nation should not deter us from exercising our choices as U.S. citizens. Likewise, both individuals and Ukrainian American organizations are free to encourage the likes of us to be engaged.
Supporting Ukraine makes me no more or less a patriotic American. For me, the U.S. is my home country, but I do not consider Ukraine a “foreign land.”
North Potomac, Md.