War in the Neighborhood

 

The park near the Mariupol Drama Theater  

©Google Maps

Aftermath  

©Evening Standard

Copyright © 2022

By Ralph F. Couey

Written content only

I've been thinking, as many of you probably have, about what is happening in Ukraine.  When Russia invaded is small neighbor on February 24th, most analysts, myself included, assumed that Russian forces would sweep over Ukraine in a matter of days.  Instead, the Ukrainians have frustrated the invader's advance.  Russian casualties have soared, including 8 generals.  It's been an amazing and inspiring thing to watch, as ordinary citizens bravely stood alongside their army with weapons in hand to defend their homeland.  That report brought a sad smile to me.  We used to have a country like that.

While we watch and react to the news, it's hard for us to really understand the impact this has had on the Ukrainians.  Most countries in Europe and Asia have hundreds, in some cases, thousands of years of history where countries were invaded.  Towns, cities, the countryside was torn to pieces.  And everywhere, death both soldiers and the innocent.  It is an indelible part of their past, and it influences their leaders even today.

In contrast, the last time America was invaded was 1812, in the conflict with England that has been called "The Empire Strikes Back."  Yes, we had a destructive Civil War, but those who fought were all part of the same country before the war, and afterwards.  In our 246 years of existence, we've never had to fight off multiple invasions, never had to take up arms to defend our homes and communities.  Such an idea is simply alien to us.

Like most of you, I have places I like to go in my free time.  I like parks, anywhere I can find grass and trees.  Blaisdell Park, near Pearl City is the closest one, and we're there at least once per week.  Another place is Kapiolani Park, the former horse racing track just outside of Waikiki.  At both places one can stroll across vivid green grass under the shade of massive Monkeypod trees.  Both are gathering places and on the weekends, tents sprout up and the air is rich with the smell of Hawai'ian barbecue.  These are familiar places to us.  We picnic there, we walk our dogs, sometimes we just sit and think.  

The place shown in the two images at the top of this post are a stark contrast.  From Google Maps, I found a picture of the beautiful park that shares space with the Mariupol Drama Theater.  We all know the tragedy that happened there.  The theater, one of the strongest buildings in town became a shelter for hundreds of people, mostly children.  In spite of the fact that the word "Children" was painted on the concrete at both ends of the building, Russian bombs struck the building and the area around it.  The result needs no description.

Imagine if you will that nice place you like to go.  It's quiet, peaceful, and it makes you happy.  That park in the image was a place like that. Until it wasn't.  

When war is waged in a city, no place is safe.  The streets where people walked or drove to the local market, or visited family and friends, ran errands, walked pets become places where death is everywhere.  Maybe soldiers are going building to building, detonating explosives and firing weapons.  Anyone, soldier or civilian, caught out in the open is cut down, maybe left to die.  Imagine that going on in your neighborhood.  You have an unwanted front-row seat to the full horrors of war.  You have to huddle in your basement, or perhaps in a nearby culvert because you home has a smoking hole in the side.  People you know, friends, loved ones have been killed, some horribly.  You are terrified, lost. All that was familiar and safe is gone.  There's nowhere you can go except to try to escape in the bitter cold of winter, carrying what little you were able to salvage.

And it goes on, day after miserable day.  Days turn into weeks with no end in sight.  Worst of all, you and your countrymen feel completely alone because despite the despicable nature of the invasion, and the global outcry against it, nobody is coming to help.  

It's a terrible thing to contemplate.  But if we are to understand fully the impact on the individual Ukrainians, we must think about the consequences of such a tragedy happening in our communities.

In many ways, we're kind of spoiled.  Although we've committed terrible violence against each other, and spread hate like cheap chicken salad, we've never had to endure an invasion.  But for many of the rest of the world's people, it happens far more often, sometimes every generation.  If we really want to honestly feel for what is happening, then we must think the unthinkable.

We must walk a mile in their shoes.