To the Bitter End if We Must; Anonymous Statement from an American Medic Serving in Ukraine’s Military
This is a statement from an American currently serving as a medic in an assault brigade in Ukraine’s military. He has requested to remain anonymous. The statement is unedited and contains his thoughts on recent actions by the USA’s government regarding support for Ukraine.
If you are serving in Ukraine and would like to make an anonymous submission, reach out to protectavolunteer@gmail.com with your Signal number or ask another volunteer with my contact information to share it with you.
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I love America, my country, my home, but I cannot love what it is becoming. I cannot love what the world is becoming. And I refuse to accept it. We should all refuse to accept it.
For years, democracy has been eroding in the world. With truth being buried beneath waves of propaganda, misinformation dulling outrage into apathy. Apathy is the lifeblood of fascism. Action is the only way to push it back.
I never thought my country would fall so far, so fast. Yet here I sit, dug into the earth, my phone buzzing with more bad news by the hour. America is turning its back on democracy. It is turning its back on Ukraine. I fear that soon it will embrace russian imperialism and through that be complicit in the genocide of the Ukrainian people.
My job in this war is small but simple. We retrieve the wounded and the dead from the line, doing what we can to keep them breathing until we can reach MEDEVAC. In doing this, we see the true cost of this war. I have lost count of the men and women I have carried, of the wounds they will bear for the rest of their lives, on their bodies and in their souls. But this is not about my story, only my perspective.
I have seen bravery here with my own eyes that defies belief. Ukrainians and foreign volunteers alike standing firm, fighting not just for their brothers and sisters, but for all who refuse to kneel to fascism. It is the duty of all free people to spit in the face of tyrants, and the people of Ukraine as well as the many foreign volunteers, perform this duty with a vigor that is nothing short of inspiring.
My country should be proud of them. My country should be standing beside them. Instead, I feel shame for the choices it has made and the claims made by our president. I will always be proud to be an American. But my country is failing Ukraine. It is failing itself.
The people here fight for a better tomorrow, a tomorrow that too many will never see. A tomorrow that, god willing, can exist for the people who live after us. We must fight for that reality, because the alternative is a life in chains, under someone’s boot. We must fight, and we will continue to fight, to the bitter end if we must.
Слава україні,
Героям слава,
And God bless America.