The Russian attack on Ukraine has many Americans wondering where Ukraine is located. They have also been questioning whether the United States has ever been involved in that area of the world.

Ukraine is located to the southwest of Russia, east of Poland and north of the Black Sea, and we have been involved in that part of the world throughout my lifetime.

In February 1945, I was 9, and World War II was raging, but the outcome in Europe was clear. Germany was losing and the war would end that year. A conference was scheduled between the three major allies, U.S., UK and USSR, to be held at Yalta in the Crimea. Much of Europe was divided between the Western allies and Russia, and that set the stage for the Cold War.

By the early 1950s, the Cold War had become the main geopolitical issue of the time. Turkey became a key ally, and the United States began building military bases in that county. The largest was Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border. That base became home to the U-2 spy plane that flew high-altitude reconnaissance flights over Russia and Eastern Europe. On May 1, 1960, a U-2, flown by Gary Powers was shot down over Russia. An international incident.

In 1963, I was a newly minted U.S. Air Force captain and assigned to Incirlik AB. Our military mission was nuclear strikes against Soviet targets across the Black Sea in Ukraine. On Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, I was having dinner in a rooftop restaurant in Istanbul with a friend who had flown in from San Francisco. The view was spectacular, the music entertaining and the food outstanding. Then the maitre de stopped the music, and with tears streaming down his face, announced that the president had been assassinated. My first response was that it was the President of Turkey. It was, in fact, President John F. Kennedy. The following day the city of Istanbul was a sea of American flags.

We were all recalled to the base. When I left Incirlik, on Friday, security was normal. When I returned, on Saturday, it was at the highest level. We were on a war footing. Planes were ready to launch, and the targets were across the Black Sea in Ukraine. The leadership in the Soviet Union were concerned that the assassination was a conspiracy, and that World War III was possible. Give Lyndon Johnson credit for reaching out to the Russians and lowering the threat level.

In 1991, the world saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the birth of a host of new nations. Ukraine was one of those new nations, but of note, it had been a member of the United Nations since 1945.

During the Presidency of Donald Trump, Ukraine became front-page news culminating in the first impeachment trial of Mr. Trump in 2019. The new President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, became well known in the United States and around the world.

It is now 2022. Our former ally, Russia, is the enemy. Our former enemy, Germany, is our ally.

Our former target, Ukraine, is now the recipient of our aid. The only constant is change.