I write this letter to honor the late serviceman, Aaron Bushnell, who gave his life for our country. His last words were, “I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers (it) is not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine.”

The death of senior airman Aaron Bushnell is a tragedy. It is a tragedy he felt he had no choice, because the majority of Americans support a ceasefire and our government continues to supply munitions to Israel. The United States is irrevocably complicit in the willful destruction of innocent human life occurring in Gaza. As much as 70% of the almost 30,000 fatalities of this conflict have been women and children. An estimated 1.5 million Palestinian people are sheltering in Rafah with nowhere left to flee.

As Israel’s prime minister plans a ground assault of the area, the United States continues to supply munitions. The destruction of human life will only grow exponentially.

William Keating

New London