FORT MYERS, FL. — Taz Gehling and Jim Zbick both work at the Southwest Florida Military Museum in the Edison Mall.
They deal with historical artifacts of all shapes and sizes.
And if they know anything about history, it's that it can repeat itself.
“A lot of Americans had that perspective - you know, this is thousands and thousands of miles away, it doesn’t really affect us so why should we bother with it - and then unfortunately December 7th 1941 happened, and we all know that is Pearl Harbor Day," explains Gehling, the store manager.
That's why they say it's important for Southwest Floridians to understand what's happening with Russia and Ukraine, where tensions continue to escalate, and could easily take a turn for the worse.
“China could get in the mix, and then all of a sudden it could lead to another world war and we definitely don’t want to see that, and any in this lifetime…after two, we’ve had enough of those," says Gehling.
All possible scenarios that he worries could become real.
“We’ve been in enough wars and conflicts that we understand that this is not ever a good thing and military might should be the last option to solve a situation.”
Both men told Fox 4 that the U.S. should focus on offering support to the people of Ukraine.
“They need to use every diplomatic possibility to solve this issue…using the U.N., embargo trades if they have to, but we definitely don’t want to see our troops in harms way again.”
“That’s the big quandary right now - how much to be involved, and how far it goes, so let’s hope that cooler heads prevail," adds Zbick.
If you'd like to learn more about this conflict, the museum is offering a "hometown hero" series where you can learn more about European countries like Russia and Ukraine, and their relationship with the U.S. economy.
