Three countries helping search for four US soldiers: this is Europe too

On March 25, four U.S. soldiers went missing during a military exercise in Pabradė, Lithuania.

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As I have been reporting in an article in Defense and Aviation these past few days, the soldiers disappeared with an M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicle after it sank in a swampy area. The Lithuanian Army has been fully involved in the rescue efforts, with the support of that country's government. In addition, Poland has also sent assistance, specifically a military engineering unit that joined the search efforts by the US and Lithuanian armies.

Yesterday we learned the news of the discovery of the bodies of three of the missing, when rescue teams managed to get the M88A2 Hercules out of the swampy area after constant efforts, in what has been a relentless work with day and night shifts. Today Estonia joined the rescue efforts for the fourth American soldier, who is still missing. The Estonian Army has sent a military team with two specialized search dogs.

Sadly, the discovery of the body of the fourth missing soldier was announced a few minutes ago. My prayers are with the four deceased and my condolences to their families.

In this long search, three European countries have been assisting our American allies in the rescue efforts. I emphasize this fact because, as in any democratic society, we Europeans often only see the bad things that happen among us, especially in the political sphere, forgetting the good things that deserve to be highlighted, and there are many. Even in times of decline, there are signs of nobility on our continent that remind us of what is most valuable about Europe, starting with the importance we place on human life.

It should be remembered that there is currently a war going on in Ukraine due to a Russian invasion, and the invaders often abandon their wounded on the battlefield and treat their men as cannon fodder, sending them on suicidal charges reminiscent of the First World War, demonstrating that for Russian culture, human life has as little value in 2025 as it did in 1942, when Soviet political commissars sent unarmed soldiers to fight the Germans in the Battle of Stalingrad, shooting those who retreated. Western Europe has changed a lot in the last 80 years, but the same cannot be said of Russia.

I say this because both in Europe and in the US, an anti-European discourse is spreading that expresses absolute contempt for our continent, while simultaneously seeking an understanding with Putin's dictatorship. Countries like Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia have known the yoke of Moscow and today they value the importance of freedom and their alliance with the United States like no one else.

Obviously, not all of Europe is like this, but those three countries that have devoted themselves to helping those missing are also Europe, and I believe it is only fair to vindicate this, and not systematically limit ourselves to focusing only on the bad, creating the same black mark on our Old Continent that others did against Spain in the past.