Courage and ingenuity in Ukraine, the front line of liberty

I have just returned from a week in Ukraine, a country at war fighting with courage, resilience and remarkable ingenuity. What I witnessed was not a country in despair, but one fiercely committed to defending its freedom.

Earlier this month, I traveled with a group of 25, mostly Americans, to deliver donated vehicles and other supplies to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. What we brought was further distributed to a hospital and to army brigades on the eastern front. The convoy of vehicles, sponsored by a U.S.-based nonprofit, began in Helsinki, Finland. I joined in Warsaw, Poland, before crossing into Ukraine.

Wherever I went, I met people who refuse to surrender to fear. Air raid sirens happen daily, yet life goes on. Teachers continue classes, often in underground shelters. Soldiers rotate between the front and their homes, defending their nation with a sense of duty that seems deeply personal.

One soldier I met, Andrej, lost his leg in combat and was flown to the United States to be fitted with an artificial limb. He was offered the chance to stay here and to bring his family as well, but he declined. Instead, he returned to Ukraine, where he's training to be a drone pilot so he can rejoin the fight against Russia. This is the kind of courage that humbles outsiders.

Ukraine's resourcefulness is equally impressive. In Kyiv, I visited a small factory that designs and builds land drones, modifies large batteries for combat purposes, and fits Western-donated vehicles for service as ambulances and mobile command centers. All of this is done with parts that are 3D printed, scavenged or custom fabricated. Ukrainians' ability to adapt under pressure is keeping Russia at bay and redefining modern warfare at the same time.

Even under daily attack, Ukraine's infrastructure crews restore power and internet service within hours of strikes that would cripple most countries. When Russia tried to darken Ukraine last winter, the people turned candlelight and cold into symbols of unity, not defeat.

This is not a country merely surviving; it is one creating, building and imagining a future, even while the present demands everything of it.

Ukraine's fight is not just about borders, it's also about the global principle that free nations have the right to determine their own destiny. The United States has given Ukraine weapons, humanitarian aid and financial support, but this is not just an investment in Ukraine — it's one in democracy itself, at a cost paid in dollars, not American lives.

We have been here before. In World War II, a war my father fought, the United States first supported those countries fighting tyranny abroad, and later entered the fight itself. Why? Because we understood that freedom at risk anywhere potentially weakens freedom everywhere. The same is true today, but by continuing, and even expanding, our investment in Ukraine, Americans won't need to enter this fight directly.

Ukrainians are standing on the front line of liberty. They are demonstrating the courage, resourcefulness and ingenuity to stand against Russian brutality, but they cannot do it alone.

Now is not the time for fatigue or indifference on America's part. It is the time for recommitment from our government and from Americans. Supporting Ukraine is the moral thing to do and also the smart and necessary thing to do, because the fight for liberty, wherever it is fought, is our fight, too.

This guest essay reflects the views of Sandy Alderson, who was an officer in the Marine Corps, served a tour of duty in Vietnam, and is a former general manager of the New York Mets.