As our allies have stood with us, we must stand with Ukraine

Wearing the cloth of our nation for 31 years has allowed me to witness some extraordinary moments.

After America was attacked on 9/11, I had command of an aircraft carrier battle group of 12 American ships headed for the northern Arabian Sea. That moment, when we as a nation had been singled out in an unprecedented attack, was fraught with distress and anxiety, and many felt very alone in a world that had changed so radically from one moment to the next.

But we were not alone out on the Arabian Sea. Waiting to meet us was an international armada of 22 foreign ships: Japan (operating outside the Sea of Japan for the first time since World War II), the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Poland, Greece, New Zealand, Canada, and other allies had assembled there for battle — the only time NATO has invoked Article 5, on the day after 9/11.

As Italy’s ship set sail to join us, its minister of defense spoke for all when he explained, with a touch of humor, why they were there. “Many may think of us Italians primarily as lovers,” he said, “but America has been attacked, and we will be there for them.”

Our “shipmates” have been there for us, even if we didn’t call on them to be. Canada hid our embassy escapees in its ambassador’s family home during the Iranian revolution — at great risk to the safety of its own diplomats.

Or when we suddenly needed a network of supply routes from Baltic and Caspian Sea ports to the Afghanistan War, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia stepped up — because our frontline warriors (the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. State Department) had been there working to develop and strengthen relationships with them since the Cold War ended.

Even the crown prince of Tonga once reminded me how his nation had proudly repaired damaged U.S. Navy warships during World War II.

And then there were the 42 nations that joined the first Gulf War spearheaded by the United States, and the 48 that joined us for the tragic misadventure of the second.

I believe alliances we have forged globally highlight America’s greatest power — its power to convene, to bring nations and peoples together for a common cause — and has long been recognized as serving more than simply our own interests.

When World War II ended, America did something never achieved before: We brokered over 75 defense agreements, treaties, alliances, and coalitions for our own security, sure, but also for the security of our global partners. Together, we won the third world war — the Cold War — without firing a shot at an adversary who had threatened, “We will bury you.”

This world concord, which we led, provided not only for increased safety but for increased economic prosperity. It took great men and women who understood that to have global open markets meant maintaining a dialogue in multilateral organizations that adhered to global rules that reflected our values. Beyond ensuring economic freedom and vigor, our universal values have earned us the unbreakable admiration of our allies and partners — something Russia and China have long envied.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has noted, our own story as a nation began with a Revolutionary War that brooked no half-measures, only full independence would do. But even then, we weren’t abandoned without recourse to alliances. The French resolved to stand alongside us for seven long years of conflict. Not only did France provide us millions in its livre currency, 63 warships, 12,000 troops, and tons of military supplies, but it was also a French general who prompted our national survival at the decisive victory at Yorktown.

It was Gen. Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, who convinced a reluctant George Washington to leave New York for Yorktown, where the French navy would block a British retreat to its own fleet offshore. Once there, Washington gave operational control of America’s troops to Rochambeau, who commanded the combined French and American forces to win our nonnegotiable war of freedom. Today, in honor of an ally’s lead in winning our survival as a nation, the sculpture closest to the Oval Office is not of an American, but the Frenchman, Rochambeau.

This is why Ukraine’s president spoke of our storied history, from the Battle of Saratoga to the Battle of the Bulge, as embodying the meaning of Ukraine’s own battle for survival today, each conflict a courageous step in a long war for independence — alongside indispensable allies. It is our turn now to lock arms with Ukraine — standing together against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Joe Sestak is a former Navy vice admiral, a former U.S. representative for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District on the House Armed Services Committee, and director for defense policy of the National Security Council staff.