As Americans weigh our obligations to the brave Ukrainians battling in defense of their national independence, we should be reminded of the Cuban Missile Crisis which peaked 60 years ago this week. On Oct. 22, 1962, President John Kennedy addressed the nation to announce he was ordering a naval quarantine blocking the shipment of ballistic missiles from the Soviet Union to Cuba. Thousands of U. S. troops were mobilized, and the alert level was raised to DEFCON 2 on Oct. 26. Every American who remembers this standoff also recalls the international fears the world could be teetering on the precipice of a nuclear attack.

During the Cold War, children practiced disconcerting atomic bomb air-raid drills in American classrooms. As kids who were hiding beneath our desks with hands clasped behind our heads, we knew this seemed to offer very little real protection in the event of an atomic blast. Now the war in Ukraine is confronting us with the renewed risk of a nuclear conflict, once again with Russia as the potential aggressor. Putin’s increasingly brutal invasion of Ukraine finds the U.S. and our NATO allies facing another grave crisis. Putin has opted for waging total war – launching cruise missiles and suicide drones targeting civilians and utility infrastructure; conducting widespread torture and mass executions; violent rapes and looting. Ukrainians have impressed the world with heroic resistance in protection of their freedoms.

There are cases of back-sliding in support of Ukraine and some politicians have suggested that the Ukrainians’ fight is not our fight. This ignores both our shared humanity and our historical commitment to defend democracy around the globe, extending through the Cold War and both World Wars as far back as the Monroe Doctrine. Together with our NATO allies, Americans have provided everything from tanks and ammunition to air defense systems and battlefield intelligence. However, many U.S. and European companies continue to conduct business with Russia, while China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India and others maintain normal trade relations with Putin. They seem to believe they have nothing at stake should the Ukrainians be crushed beneath the heel of the Russian dictator.

These choices constitute an obliviousness to the dangers of disregarding historical experience. Last May, 11 Senators and 57 members of Congress voted against providing continued military and economic aid to Ukraine and, more recently, the House Minority Leader suggested, if serving in the majority next year, there will be no more “blank checks“ for Ukraine. His warning implies liberty carries a price tag limitation that should be debated. This waffling is absolutely wrongheaded, as it is essential the U.S. and NATO remain steadfast in their commitments to uninterrupted support for Ukraine. Should we hesitate, we will allow a vicious dictator to get away with the ugliest war crimes we’ve witnessed for decades. And we will soon discover the war in Ukraine is only a preliminary skirmish in a predictable struggle pitting Russia and its totalitarian partners against the free world’s democracies.

The costs of assisting Ukrainians in waging a robust defense against an unprovoked invasion will appear inexpensive if their defeat proves just the first battle in a protracted campaign to extinguish democracies. Russian efforts to choke off natural gas supplies to Europe – collusion with the Saudis and OPEC+ to drive up the price of energy and the sabotage of pipelines – portend a multi-pronged struggle of economic attrition designed to fracture NATO’s political solidarity with Ukraine and weaken economic sanctions. All the more important then for we and our allies to promptly provide Ukraine with the equipment and assistance they require to defeat Putin as quickly as possible, despite any risk of further escalating the conflict. As former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas, now with the McCain Institute, stated recently, “If the United States does not act now to provide the equipment, training, intelligence and advice that it takes Ukraine to exploit their current advantage to drive the Russians out, the alternative will be a longer war.” Currently time is on our side. Delay will only deliver more needless deaths.

Thomas Jefferson observed, “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” It is vital now, at this critical juncture, that the U.S. and NATO sustain their full support for Ukraine. We dare not falter as the battles in Ukraine cannot be permitted to become the precursors to a World War III waged between democracies and global authoritarians. The defense of freedom has never been free. Since the Ukrainian people have proven willing to valiantly embrace its price, we should guard their backs because this fight is – in truth – also our fight.

Miller Hudson, a former Colorado legislator, and Don Stanton, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, each served with the U. S. Navy during the Cold War and Vietnam Conflict.