Columbia grad students recounts Ukrainian unity on the frontlines

United States Air Force drone pilot Sam Nahins just returned to NYC after three weeks volunteering on the frontlines in Ukraine. Nahins, 32, — a Jewish graduate student in fine arts at Columbia University was among those trapped inside Butler Library in May when it was taken over by anti-Israel protesters — tells The Post’s Doree Lewak about his anxious homecoming.

I’m a proud American patriot — I love this country to death. That’s why I enlisted in the US Air Force for six years as soon as I graduated high school in North Carolina.

I spent three weeks this summer volunteering on the frontlines in Ukraine with the relief group Help is on the WayUA, providing supplies to the frontlines.

We survived getting shelled, being attacked by drones and skirted artery fire 24/7. 

But when it was over, my feeling was, “I don’t want to come home.”

Just look at my school’s recent history.

Last month, the notorious group Unity of Fields — the same group which took over Columbia’s Butler Library — posted on X an image of mass veterans coffins draped in American flags accompanied by a heart emoji and caption reading, “soon inshallah.” It means “G-d willing.”

That’s who I’m going to school with. Of course I’m not going to feel welcome. 

Veterans aren’t looking for a thank you. We just don’t want to be called baby killers anymore. We don’t want to be threatened and disrespected like this.

My friend, fellow veteran and Columbia classmate, Brandon Christie, stopped attending classes in the weeks following Oct. 7, 2023 – and ultimately took his own life. 

So when Columbia sits by as Veterans Day is hijacked for Martyrs Day and laud groups like Unity of Fields, you start to get the picture.

My motivation for going to Ukraine was simple: I’ve flown drones for the US Air Force, flying a plane remotely somewhere in the Middle East fighting ISIS and al Qaeda.

I served overseas in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. But I’d never actually been to a warzone.

I needed that perspective.

I was getting shelled and attacked by drones while embedded with Ukraine’s 25th battalion. But I was in good hands. No one was trying to stab me in the back — at least I knew what the enemy was. 

Turns out,  I felt more at ease in Ukraine than I do in New York.

As a grad student at Columbia, where 20-year-olds who have never seen a war in their lives call me “baby killer,” “murderer” and “colonizer,” I feel like my own school and city don’t have my back.

In Ukraine, people proudly wave American flags. By contrast, at Columbia, we had Martyrs Day on Veterans Day. It’s crazy. 

Here in New York, it feels like everyone hates each other. In Ukraine you have a full spectrum of individuals and yet somehow they’re all united.

We need a lot more of that.

In America, we have this feeling of “Oppression Olympics,” but the Ukrainians in no way want to be pitied. Sure, the people want and need support, but they’re not playing the victim game.

My experience felt sobering: Ukrainians love America more than Americans.

They joke, “Where is your Iraqi scarf?” They know how ridiculous Columbia is.

I’m not giving up on my school or city – and definitely not my country. But I feel very unwanted here.

Before I left Ukraine, I put my resume out there, and was offered three jobs for non-military positions. I’m still deciding whether to go back.