Watching the war on Ukraine

For this old gent with a military background this current war, the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian armed forces, is a bit hard to watch. Quite properly in the vast majority view of US citizens, it is well that our leaders have not committed our own military but it is still hard to watch. It is reminiscent of Hitler’s blitzkrieg of Poland that was the start of WWII.

I have to admire the pluck of the Ukrainian people, men and women alike, to stand and fight against such overwhelming odds. According to what we see on television it is the young men who are staying to fight after they try to get their young wives and children across a border to safety. We don’t see what the older generations are doing but I suspect that they are trying to hunker down in the safety of a bomb shelter somewhere. Limited supplies of food loom in their future and we are at a distance and really unable to help in about any respect.

To me their will to stand and fight testifies to their experience of what it was like to live under the dominance of the Russian-controlled USSR during the cold war following WWII. Ukraine only became a free nation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 so the experience of living under Communist rule is still fresh in a lot of those citizens' minds. Evidently, the Ukraine government has a reputation for corruption but still, it had to have been better than what they experienced under the Soviets. Tough choices.

I am looking forward to President Biden’s State of the Union address this evening. The pundits on television keep observing that oil is key to a more free future for a great portion of the European nations. Russia has vast reserves of petroleum and evidently, the Europeans have come to depend on getting their needed supplies from Russia. It is suggested that somehow the flow of oil from Russia be cut off and then we in America step in and supply their lifeblood of natural gas and fuel that they have grown dependent on. Biden’s problem is that he has gotten in bed with the Green New Deal and shut down America’s oil production as best he could. My understanding is that even New York City depends on thirty percent of its oil supply currently being imported from Russia. Hopefully, in the State of the Union, our president will give us an answer to that self-committed conundrum. Maybe he can turn to his son Hunter who supposedly is an expert on oil in Ukraine for advice. I won’t be holding my breath!

Over the past few years several of the European nations have shut down their nuclear power plants and now depend on natural gas for their heating and electricity generation needs. Possibly those nuclear plants can be brought back online to help power their economies.

With my ear to the ground, I have seen indications that our military forces are designing small nuclear power generating plants to supply their needs in foreign locations rather than having to depend on local sources. Look at the record of our own Navy in powering so many of their ships with nuclear power units for example. Nuclear is safe, dependable and causes no carbon to be released into the atmosphere. Still, there seems to be great public prejudice against the use of nuclear power. The againers bring up the problem with disposing of nuclear waste which can be efficiently buried. One can ask what is done with the blades of their “alternative power” wind generators when they reach the end of their operative life. Well of course that fiberglass waste is buried but the “environmentalists” don’t like to talk about that.

In the State of the Union, I am also curious what President Joe Biden will be telling Chairman Xi of China about keeping hands off Taiwan. There is a subtle difference between Ukraine which had only been independent of Russia for a short time and Taiwan which considers itself independent but greater China has always considered it a rogue providence but always a part of China itself. If through our non-intervention will Russia eventually prevail over Ukraine thus giving the green light to China to take Taiwan assuming the United States will stay clear and let them take over Taiwan which has been an independent nation since about 1949? It promises to be a rough next couple of years for our beloved United States of America.

Happier times. My fellow flight instructor Dave Fulkerson and I had a delightful time talking to a nice group of high school students on the just past Bison Days. We outlined jobs and career opportunities out to our local airport in addition to the lure of a career as a pilot. We even received great reviews from the students who chose to attend the aviation visit. I am sure that many of the other venues that the students experienced during Bison Days were happily received as well. Such programs speak well of our great local schools.

Upward and onward. That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail