July 4th from the New War for Independence
Comparison between America and Ukraine’s Wars
This weekend in the country of my birth and citizenship, people will be celebrating at barbecues, picnics, beaches and their own backyards. They will celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence that took place on July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a place just 25 minutes by car from the house where I grew up. We visited it regularly on class trips and as individuals because it is one of the pillars of the American Republic. Fireworks will take place in the evening, but I cannot imagine anyone here in Ukraine wanting to hear them right now as they are in fact, banned during war. The rockets red glare and the bombs bursting in air here are the real ones.
Let’s take a minute and remember our own Declaration of Independence which when accusing King George states:
“He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our peoples.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.”
Ukraine is now suffering almost word-for-word what is stated above by the tyrant in Moscow and his countrymen and women. The Black Sea is under a naval blockade where cities and villages have been burned to the ground killing women, children, the elderly and others. Mercenaries from Chechnya, Syria and other places have been employed by this despot for the murder and rape of Ukrainians. Residents of Donetsk and Luhansk have been conscripted to kill their own people. This is just the tip of the iceberg type comparisons that we Americans fought so bravely against those 236 years ago. Battles that were fought just a bike ride from my home at Red Bank Battlefield (Fort Mercer) where my distant relative, Jonas Cattell, ran 10 miles from his home to warn the troops there that Hessians (Foreign Mercenaries) were coming to attack them in October 1777.
Ukraine’s Lexington and Concord have names like Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, Chernihiv and that of other small villages along Russia’s path of destruction when their troops first entered this country. The Minutemen of Ukraine are not only men but also women who go by the name of Territorial Defense Forces. They gathered and took up arms immediately after Russia crossed into Ukraine. I went to sign up on the third day of war and was turned away because they had more volunteers than they had weapons.
This is not Russia’s war. This is Ukraine’s War for Independence. Ukraine may not have a Jefferson and an official Declaration of Independence. Maybe they don’t need one because the despot in Moscow wouldn’t even read it and they declared their independence on February 24, 2022 when they resisted the invasion. Russia has for over 500 years, treated Ukraine as a vassal state. Citing another great American document, Ukraine issued its own Emancipation Proclamation from being a slave to Russia back in 2014 in the beginnings of the war that is currently raging. Lincoln said:
“And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free…”
Ukraine said this collectively to their assumed masters in Moscow when they refused to accept the slavery of those who would rule over and subjugate them. They took up arms and stood their ground in the Donbas and are now doing it all over Ukraine. You can almost hear those Ukrainian voices quoting our great and famous Declaration of Independence which states:
“But when a long train abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
Moscow has assumed its rule over Ukraine since at least the 1600’s. Ukraine has attempted independence before. Ukraine stated it was independent in 1991 but now in 2022, it is showing the world that it will fight and die to the last person standing for that independence. My fellow, Americans, their story is not all that different from ours. I am here with them. I see it every hour, every day. They are strong-willed, brave and are only seeking that which our forefathers sought all those years ago on the battlefields of our original Thirteen Colonies. Ukrainians, like us, are seeking the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
We, the people of the United States, should be doing all we can to help the Ukrainians achieve complete independence. Would our forefathers have settled for partial independence? Would you settle for it given the option? This is what we must understand about our brothers and sisters in the fight for a new democratic republic. Their fight is our fight and it is based on the same principles that we hold so highly no matter what our own political leanings may be.
America and the United Kingdom were foes in our War for Independence. Now, we along with the Brits must play the role that France did in our Revolutionary War. Yes, we are doing it to some extent but we have not sent them a Lafayette. We have not sent ships to undo the naval blockade. We need not do it alone nor under the auspices of NATO. We can use our power and influence in the United Nations to get the job done.
Ukraine’s War for Independence is also ours whether we like it or not. I see the bravery and resolve of these Ukrainians every day. Their desires are the same as ours. Their will to fight and die for freedom is the same as ours has been through so many wars. Since day one of this war, I have been here on the ground in Ukraine with them all doing what I can when I can. I love the stars and stripes but now I also love the blue and gold. Yes, I am a Patriot of Ukraine and all I ask that in whatever way you can, you join me and so many others in standing with Ukraine in its War for Independence. May God have mercy on all of us. God Bless America…and Ukraine. Happy 4th of July… have a hot dog and a hamburger in my name, please.
