Four continents are scattered with headstones commemorating the contributions made by America’s Greatest Generation during World War II.

By the end of the war, the illegal land invasions accomplished by dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan, had been halted. Their declarations of far-right ideologies had been silenced, and their quest for territorial expansion had been eliminated, but the toll would be the costliest in human history. Now, 80 years later, many Americans can still recount the bravery of their loved ones, and they include close friends of mine.          

Carmen’s father was in Iwo Jima, the bloody monthlong Pacific Island battle fought to achieve a bomber’s striking range to mainland Japan. Tim’s dad commanded an American tanker supporting Marine invasions during numerous battles in the South Pacific. Maureen’s father was injured three times as he fought to land at the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach, on D-Day. And Steve’s dad was a member of the Army Air Force team that dropped the atomic “Little Boy” over Hiroshima from the weapons bay of the Enola Gay.  

And yet last week, for reasons too incomprehensible to be rationally understood, an American president seemed compelled to sell out our country to another European dictator. After we’d liberated Europe from Hitler during WWII, and defeated Russia in the Cold War, how in God’s name could we now be changing sides?       

Littered with lies when they first appeared on Truth Social, Donald Trump’s recent messages could have only been more shocking had they appeared on Kremlin letterhead. He claimed that it was Ukraine who started the war, saying, “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” But it is undisputed that it was Moscow that launched the full-scale land invasion in February 2022, and it was Moscow that bombed civilian locations in Ukrainian cities, and it was Moscow that sent Russian hit squads to assassinate Zelensky in Kyiv.       

And while Trump vilified the Ukrainian President, he also elevated the international stature of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the world had sidelined since his invasion. In short, Trump managed to both upend the post-WWII order and denigrate our American courage and sacrifice. His behavior was appalling even to a world already desensitized to his incoherent howling.   

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But more than that, his posture continues to destabilize the allied relationships that have served our national security for the last 80 years.In real time, we are witnessing the conversion of his extraordinary pettiness into full-scale existential threats.    

Just last summer, a series of Taylor Swift concerts had to be canceled because of planned ISIS attacks shared within the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. For obvious reasons, most foiled attacks don’t get reported, but we can credibly assume that the basis of our safety is in part the trust that is shared within members of our security alliances. Trump continually weakens it, along with our national security. 

Like many of you, I watch in horror as Republican leaders bow before Trump while he bows before our adversary in Russia. Because the GOP is the governing majority, we must bombard them with our outrage.     

And we must remind them that while a dictatorship requires their complicity, a Democracy requires their courage.

— Community Columnist Lynn Smith is a retired wealth management executive who resides in Holland. Contact her at lynn.angleworks@gmail.com.