As an infantry soldier during the 1950s, I made a promise to my fellow soldiers, and they to me, that we would never abandon a comrade on a field of battle.

That promise was not unique to my time of service.

It has been a universal commitment honored within our military for time immemorial, manifesting itself even at the military’s highest level of command, its commander in chief, the president of the United States.

After decades of loyalty to our allies by his predecessors in office, President Donald Trump chose to violate our military’s sacred promise. Regrettably, while deployed in battle with our own soldiers, he abandoned our Kurdish allies and their families to a brutish and merciless Turkish force.

His betrayal is not only detrimental to our immediate national interest, it has also stained our national honor and trust. Neither his promised sanctions nor political spin, however shrewd, can restore America’s stature in the world.

JOSEPH P. SWALLOW,

Alpena