The story of 93-year-old US veteran Vytautas Packauskas, a staunch supporter of Ukraine
"If I can ride a horse at the age of 91, you can pass a bill!" That’s the message on the card that 93-year-old US veteran Vytautas Packauskas has been giving out at meetings on Capitol Hill to show that he stands with Ukraine. Vytautas has travelled with his daughter from Michigan to DC to advocate for Ukraine.
Nadija Packauskas and her 93-year-old father Vytautas Packauskas are Lithuanian by heritage. Vytautas is a US veteran who survived a concentration camp during World War II. He was deported to Germany, then Siberia, and he arrived in the United States in 1947. A year later, he joined the Army National Guard, primarily to learn English. He was a tank radio technician and later joined the US Air Force.
"So to my family growing up, we knew very well that the Russian, the Soviet occupation was harmful, deadly, and full of horror," Vytautas says.
Vytautas Packauskas’ voice as a 1950s US war veteran is sounding strong in the US Congress, and he is giving all the strength he has to continue to support Ukraine.
"At 93, he's still powerful in fighting for Ukraine every single day and with the voice of us together, we will win. We will have complete victory, a free independent powerful rebuild of Ukraine, when this is done," Nadija says.
Rallying for Ukraine
When the full-scale war came, all the Packauskas family were glued to the news. Filled with horror as the Russians declared that Kyiv would fall, Vytautas sat on the sofa weeping with such pain in his heart that he could barely breathe. It was hard for him to imagine how something like this could be happening 80 years later.
Vytautas’ daughter Nadija initially suggested going on a march somewhere in Chicago, which has a large Ukrainian and Lithuanian population. But Vytautas insisted on holding a rally in Houghton, Michigan. So they went to let the police know about their plans to organise a walk across the bridge in support of Ukraine. Then they had the task of finding enough blue and yellow fabric to reach their goal of 100 handmade flags to give out to people. Vytautas and Nadija even drove 200 miles to source all the material.
"Women and men were sewing for us through the night. The first march we had, we had 100 flags handmade for Ukraine on Sunday, following the full-scale invasion," Nadija says of those days.
It was minus 17 degrees Celsius when the first group of marchers walked across the bridge in Houghton, Michigan. And they’ve repeated the march every single week since then.
"Well, I wanted to support Ukraine because we had a similar situation in Lithuania back in World War II. Of course, we feel that we are brothers and sisters of Ukraine, and that's why we started informing people about what's happening in Ukraine, the history of Ukraine, and participated in any support that we could attend. Wherever there were demonstrations, we demonstrated also," Vytautas says.
Since the full-scale war broke out, Vytautas has taken part in over 130 marches and more than 100 speeches, workshops and collaborative demonstrations with people from all over the world.
"They’ve gone to the VFW – the Veterans of Foreign Wars – here in the United States. We've gone to the American legions. Anybody that would listen to the story of Ukraine, we have tried to share that story with them," Nadija says of her father’s experience over the past two years.
Lithuanians have been standing steadfastly with Ukraine since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Donbas. When the full-scale war started, they felt they had to play their part in telling Americans Ukraine’s story. "This was a sovereign country brutally invaded by Russia without any provocation and for no reason," they say.
Welcoming heroes
While on their visit to DC to advocate for Ukraine, Vytautas and Nadija had the blessing of welcoming two wounded Ukrainian defenders who had flown in from Ukraine.
"I saw the two soldiers coming in at the airport. And I cried because of fear in them. I still do. They each lost one leg in Ukraine, and of course I hugged them and they hugged me. Their coats are all veterans’," Vytautas remembers.
"I think we are on the right path by supporting Ukraine here, and especially by giving them arms. And we do hope and wish that they will become free as a result of our support from the United States. And yes, it may not happen soon, it may take some time, but I think eventually Ukraine will be free, and we'll enjoy the freedom of Ukraine. And we won't stop until that happens," says Vytautas.
When Vytautas turned 93, some members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine sent him a flag they had all signed. Vytautas always has this flag with him when he goes to meetings and marches. "Some of the men on this flag that's so sacred to us are no longer with us. As Zelenskyy said, they're unseen now. But their names live on, and their fight for Ukraine lives on. So that's why this flag is so very important to our family," Nadija says.
Vytautas and Nadija brought the flag to DC and took it with them to all of their meetings with members of Congress and senators. They have pledged to continue cherishing every single defender of Ukraine. And Vytautas brought the message on his card to the Hill, too: "If I can ride a horse at the age of 91, you can pass a bill. The world is watching. Thank you so much."
Vytautas read the card out to us. He then revealed that he hadn't ridden a horse in over 50 years, but he got on a horse for an hour during one of the demonstrations. He used a photograph of himself on the horse to create the card.
"I cannot think of anything that is singularly more important right now, for the world and for the United States, than to support Ukraine. And for me, as the daughter of a beloved father and a very proud Lithuanian-American and a Lithuanian by heritage, this fight for Ukraine is the single most important thing we can do," says Nadija.
By Uliana Boichuk