American Veterans Volunteer to Fight in Ukraine
WASHINGTON —
When Matthew Parker, an American veteran with 22 years of service in the U.S. Army, heard that Russian forces had invaded Ukraine, he thought about a Ukrainian American soldier who had served alongside him with U.S. forces in Iraq and decided he wanted to help the Ukrainians defend their homeland.
“I had a soldier in Iraq with me who was from Ukraine,” he told VOA of his decision to join what he sees as a fight about justice and friendship. “He became an American citizen, joined the Army, and he told me about his home. He told me about his family and how proud they were. I remember him telling me about his little sister.
“Now … I'd like to think that by going to Ukraine, maybe I protect his mother, or his little sister or his home. Maybe in some small way, I say thank you to him for serving by doing something like this.”
Parker, who fought battles in Bosnia and Iraq, is not alone.
A representative of the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington told VOA that 3,000 U.S. volunteers have responded to the nation’s appeal for people to serve in an international battalion that will help resist Russia’s invading forces. Many more have stepped forward from other countries, most from other post-Soviet states such as Georgia and Belarus.
In an emotional video posted to his Telegram channel on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to an “international legion” of 16,000 foreign volunteers, who he said are being asked to “join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world.”
“We have nothing to lose but our own freedom,” the president said.
more:
http://www.voanews.com/a/american-veterans-volunteer-to-fight-in-ukraine-/6470781.html
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