Ready for What’s Next

Illustration by Harvest Buchanan

HOW CONFLICTS ARE AFFECTING MILITARY FAMILIES

While the rest of the world watched in horror as footage of

Russian troops entering Ukraine spread through the news and social media, military families watched with a different kind of worry. Currently, the U.S. is not involved in the Ukrainian war, but the possibility remains. Should Russia attack a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the U.S., along with other membering countries, would likely get involved, putting American soldiers on foreign soils. Growing up with a parent in the military is already hard enough, and according to the American Psychological

Association, this makes up approximately two million children in the U.S. Many children who grow up in this situation have to learn to cope with frequent parental absences, possible harm coming to their parents, and the aftermath of that parent coming home. Having a parent in the military can also, according to sophomore Ben Howell, change one's outlook on war. Howell’s father served in Iraq until 2007, his grandfather served in Vietnam, and his great-great-grandfather in World War I. Despite the long family history, Howell has no intentions of joining the military. “It’s not really something I’m particularly big on,” Howell said. “I’ve been around someone who went to war my entire life, so he’s giving me those ideas of ‘war isn’t that great.’” Howell said that growing up around people who have experienced war has made him more of a pacifist. “[I think] that peace should be pursued whenever possible,” Howell said. Senior Hunter Nelson, on the other hand, is following in his family's footsteps. Nelson’s mother and two of his grandparents served in the Military and Navy. Nelson is following close behind, having recently joined the National Guard. “I knew I wanted to do military,” Nelson said. “My mom was in the Navy and both my grandparents.” There’s been a lot of debate whether or not the U.S. should get involved in the war in Ukraine. Nelson said that while he’d be nervous, he’d support the U.S. getting involved. “We’ve seen it before in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine,” Nelson said. “They’re putting pressure on other countries, [and] it’s going to continue happening if we don’t do something.” However, some fear that getting involved might make the situation worse. “The U.S.’s role would be [to continue] what they're already doing,” senior Gabe LaChapelle said. “You fight them economically and you provide what weapons you can to Ukraine, but there's not much else you can do without causing something a lot worse that would probably end up with the destruction of Ukraine anyways.” According to Howell, his main concerns about the U.S. getting involved in the war in Ukraine is the possibility of a draft. “I’m more worried about if it goes on and if there's a draft that occurs,” Howell said, “the fact that highschoolers at West Albany could get drafted into a war.” While the U.S. does not have an active draft, it could still be reinstated during an emergency by an act of Congress. Men ages 18 to 25 are still required to register with the Selective Service, the agency responsible for running a draft should the need arise.

Q & A WITH PHILIP SAMOYLICH

Ukrainian American senior

How does your family feel about the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine? My mom has friends that live in Ukraine back where she used to live, but otherwise we don’t really know that many people that live in Ukraine because either everybody left or they moved to another country.

Do you guys keep in contact with the people who are living in Ukraine? Yeah, it’s mostly just through things like Facebook or Instagram, or there's a Russian social media and WhatsApp. Have you thought about joining the military or helping in any way? No, I would not join the military just because it's not really my thing...Well, for most Americans, they can’t find Ukraine on a map until maybe just like a week ago. But for them, going to Ukraine is not their fight; they have no reason to go. But for my uncles, they feel much stronger becaue that's where they grew up, but in terms of going there and fighting, I dont think that's a very serious idea because Russians know Ukrainians, and Ukrainians know Russians. It's not a fight I think either countries really want.

Do you feel especially close to the conflict given that you are Ukrainian? Absolutely. I mean, it’s terrible to see images of people that you know, who speak the language you speak. I mean, if you saw Americans getting killed, you would feel very strongly attached to it. It’s very sad to see Russians kill Ukrainians, and Ukrainians fight Russians. It’s not just a tragedy, it’s like some part of you wants to help. It's kind of a deeper thing.

Do you feel obligated in any way to help donate or offer shelter? Yeah, our parents have donated a lot to causes that they know, one of which was the posters out [in the commons]. They donated like $100 or something. It’s not an obligation; it’s more like your duty. You don’t have to do this, it’s more like your gonna do this.

Why do you think they feel that way? Not just because they are Ukrainian, but because it is their heritage. They have deep ties to Ukraine, to their country.

Is that people who don’t know a lot about the conflict might not know?

Things like the 2014 Merredin 04

coup that overthrew a pro-Russian president and put in a pro-United States president. The Pro-Russian parts of Ukraine that were upset about it broke away from Ukraine are Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk, all of which voted to join the Russian Federation. Crimea was accepted, however Doetsk and Luhansk were not.

Anything you would like to add? It’s a lot of focusing on few things and not the whole picture... You miss the forest for the trees. I think with Ukrainians, there's a very strong sense of pride. A very strong sense of independence. They’ve always seen themselves as independent and have always had bad feelings toward Russia. Just as it's like big brother and little brother. There's a lot of acts of heroism and stuff like that. A lot of that stems off of national identity.

We asked two social studies teachers about the history of the conflict, and how they view it.

Bryan Wadlow International Issues Teacher

Yeah, there have been multiple interactions between the two. There has always been conflict, but I think most recent to this was in 2014, when the Russian Federation took the Crimean Peninsula.

Due to Ukraine not being a NATO country, we will offer financial support [but not more]. So a lot of the work has been outside of NATO. If NATO were to get involved in a non-NATO country, I think implications would be that all NATO countries would have to be on board.

Like our first war with Iraq, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the United States responded to the conflict. Since then, the wars we have been in fighting in Iraq have been kind of an ouster or a push to change the government.

I don't think we can take this lightly or think that it's going to resolve itself. I also think it's really a wake up call to the world. I think we had a very long period of peace because a lot of the major nations have nuclear capabilities. Has Russia and Ukraine had any conflict in the past? Kristen Grosserhode World History Teacher There's some longstanding animosity. Ukraine used to be a part of the Soviet Union, and when the Soviet Union fell, the Ukrainians voted for independence from Russia. Like, over 90% of them voted for independence.

The U.S. is sending aid, but not soldiers to fight. That would be getting very close to war at that point, and that's not something we want. We have done multiple sanctions on Russia. One of the most recent sanctions has been on Russian energy, so no Russian oil, although the United States doesn't rely heavily on Russia oil. It's argued it is more of a symbolic gesture.

I mean, during the [President Donald] Trump presidency we were worried about war with North Korea, we had our 20 years of fighting in the Perisian Gulf, or the Persian Gulf wars, and people will ask me if we are about to see WWIII, and I'm not sure that will happen.

In any conflict, everyone should be really careful. We always want to find a good guy and a bad guy, but there's just so much more to it than that.

What is being done to aid Ukraine?

What was the world like the last time we had a major conflict?

Is there anything else you would like to add?

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RUSSIA & UKRAINE?

Senior Taylor Jeanette

“I haven't been keeping up with it too much besides for our government class. I do have some huge concerns for the Ukrainians, and I wish we could help them all out more without actually getting involved.” Senior Lauren Harvey “It’s scary that it could affect us in the future so much, but I feel like things have happened where countries disagree and all that stuff a lot in the past and it hasn’t outright just become a war, so I’m not terribly worried.”

Senior Ahmed Rashid “I’m not sure. Well, it’s been going on since like 2014, which most people don’t know. They all just blame [President Joe] Biden for it, they don’t necessarily blame Biden for it in its entirety, but they think he is a weak leader.”

WHICH STORIES ARE RELIABLE?

With the rise of social media, many people turn to sites like Instagram or TikTok for information, but it can be difficult to sort through fact from fiction when anyone and everyone can post whatever they like. According to The U.S. Department of State, here is some common misinformation being spread about the Russian and Ukrainian crisis.

Fiction: The conflict was instigated by Ukraine and the West.

Fact: Russia started the conflict by building a military presence on their side of the border with no such activity from the Ukrainian side

Fiction: Russia is defending ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

Fact: There are no credible sources of Russians in Ukraine being threatened, however, there are reports of Ukrainians in Russia-occupied Crimea and Donbas facing suppression.

Fiction: NATO is a threat to Russia.

Fact: NATO is a defensive alliance that aims to protect its member states and avoids confrontation. NATO countries do not encircle Russia. Russia has land borders with 14 countries, of which only five are members of NATO.

Some reliable sources:

CNN has provided exhaustive, on-the-ground coverage of the war in Ukraine.

The New York Times has on the ground reporters in Ukraine.

VoxUkraine is a Ukrainian fact checking organization working to stop the spread of misinformation.