How Ukraine has changed my view of a Polish tragedy Artwork

Reflections from the River

There’s something about that “Old Man River” which brings out the storyteller. Reflections from the River comes from the banks of the Mississippi River, upstream from Memphis, downstream from St. Louis, where the aircraft carrier sized tows negotiate the twists and bends of America’s artery. In these five to ten-minute vignettes a modern-day Mark Twain, with the occasional O. Henry twist to an ending, holds a mirror to middle America, its challenges and its strengths. Author and speaker, Bill Enyart, draws from the well-springs of working-class Midwestern roots, tempered by his rise from enlisted military ranks to Major General and then US Congressman to tell stories that reveal much of the American soul and the path American military men, women and their families tread. Humor, duty, grief and comradeship share the stage. Audio production by Tom Calhoun at paguytom.com. Cover photo by Staff Sgt Lally Laksbergs, Army National Guard. Email comments or questions to: bill@billenyart Billenyart.com

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Reflections from the River

How Ukraine has changed my view of a Polish tragedy

May 04, 2022 • Bill Enyart

0:00 | 4:59

How Ukraine has changed my mind about a Polish tragedy...a letter to Poland

To my Polish brothers and sisters:

I salute you for your strength, courage and determination in supporting freedom and democracy in Ukraine. Your freedoms and the freedoms of all independent nations of Central and Eastern Europe depend on you.

I regret that the United States government and the governments of other Western European NATO members failed to heed your early warnings of Putin’s vicious schemes for those countries which dare to defy his desire to reestablish the Russian Empire with him as its dictator.

Just as we failed to properly evaluate Hitler, we have failed to understand and react to Putin. You have understood and have been telling us the truth of his designs.

I have witnessed the strength of Polish democracy and the Polish peoples dedication to freedom. As the commanding general of the Illinois National Guard, I flew to Warsaw immediately after the 2010 Smolensk air disaster which killed ninety-one Polish leaders, including the President. I personally knew many of the officials killed. My wife and I speak of them frequently and mourn their death to this day.

Due to the Iceland volcanic explosion interrupting air travel, I served as the senior US military officer to Polish state funerals for those lost. I witnessed Poland’s grief and the strength of Polish democracy which continued to function despite the horrific losses of so many senior officials.

At that time, after speaking to experienced US military pilots about weather conditions at Eastern European airports, I believed the crash in Russia, at the site of the World War II massacre of twenty-two thousand Polish soldiers and citizens at Stalin’s order, to be an accident. I no longer believe that to be true.

Vladimir Putin was in charge of the Russian investigation. The Russian government limited Polish involvement in the investigation. The Russian air traffic controllers gave the Polish air crew inaccurate information regarding the airplane’s physical location, landing lights were broken and malfunctioning, the Russian government refuses to return the airplane to Poland. These facts signal Russian government involvement in the crash.

The Russian government has a history of complicity in shooting down innocent civilian aircraft. One example is Malaysian Airlines flight MH 17 shot down over Ukraine in 2014 by Russian operatives. Another example is the Russian attack on a Korean Airlines 747 in 1983, which killed 269 innocent civilians, among them a US congressman.

Although I do not know any new facts about the Smolensk disaster, reexamining the facts in light of Putin’s ongoing criminal actions lead me to believe the disaster was not an accident, but rather was caused by Putin in an attempt to destabilize Polish democracy just as he has attempted to destroy Ukrainian democracy.

The question to be answered now is whether the Russian government’s complicity in the Smolensk air disaster was an attack on Polish sovereignty such that it triggers Article Five of the NATO Treaty, which states that an attack on one is an attack on all?

Reflections from the River www.billenyart.com

Audio production by: Tom Calhoun, www.paguytom.com