Harrison Josefovic quit his job as a police officer in Chicago and went abroad shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. An Army veteran, he said he had no choice but to participate in American volunteers trying to support the Ukrainian fight.
Jozefowicz currently leads a group called the Task Force Yankees. He has more than 190 volunteers in combat slots and other roles, provides nearly 15,000 first aid kits, supports the relocation of more than 80 families, and provides dozens of food and medicine pallets. Assisted.On the south and east fronts of war..
It’s a difficult and dangerous job. But Jozefowicz said he felt powerless oversight from the United States when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan last year, especially after his best friend’s staff. Sgt.Ryan NausDied in a suicide bombing in Kabul.
“So I’m trying to do everything I can to ensure that others can help not experience what I’ve experienced,” he said in an interview conducted through a messaging platform. I said on Saturday.
A former U.S. Marine who died last week was believed to be the first American citizen to be killed during a battle in Ukraine. Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, died on Monday while working for a military contractor who sent him to Ukraine, his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN.
An uncertain number of other Americans (many of whom have a military background) are military supplies, humanitarian aid, and money. The US government has discouraged Americans from fighting in Ukraine. This raises legal and national security issues.
The Russian invasion has given the Ukrainian embassy in Washington the task of responding to inquiries from thousands of Americans who want to help the fight. Ukraine uses the internet to recruit foreign military volunteers. Ukrainian territorial defense unit.
“Anyone who wants to participate in the defense of security in Europe and the world can stand side by side with the Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st century,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the recruitment pitch.
Texan Anja Osmon, who toured Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. military from 2009 to 2015, said she went to Ukraine herself. Her medic, after arriving in Ukraine on March 20 and living in the woods with other members of the International Army, she was appointed because the new commander did not want a female fighter. He said he had sent it out.
Osmon, 30, said his mother wanted a home by September. But for now, she is anxious to get out of the hotel in Lviv and catch up with another combat unit near Action.
“I can’t get away from injustice,” she said. “No one should be scared.”
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Eddie Etchu quits his job in the gig economy, finds a friend to see a cat in Colorado, gives up his home four blocks from the beaches of San Diego, California, and in Ukraine. He said he provided support for the United States. two weeks. He first worked for an aid agency, but is now training in the International Army.
Echu, 36, said he couldn’t stay home. “That’s exactly right,” said Etchu, who funded her journey through her online fundraising campaign.
Etchu’s family history drew him to Ukraine. He stated that after the 1956 revolution, his grandparents left Hungary with only four children and clothes. The revolution was subdued by Soviet troops that killed thousands.
“What’s happening here affects not only the people who are experiencing it, but their children and grandchildren. I know it from my personal experience,” he says. I did.
Former Chicago policeman Jozefowicz says there are thousands of Americans and other volunteers in Ukraine. There are several organizations active in the country, and Jozefowicz said that his group alone has a large number of volunteers in positions across the country, of which about 40 are in combat work.
“We do not encourage civilians to play a direct action role. We only guide and connect former military applicants,” he said.
But there are many other things to do. He said a group of volunteers supplies medical care and food to 44 million people, and others work with refugees and others who had to flee their homes. I am.
“The closer I got to Ukraine and the longer I spent in Ukraine, the more space I needed to fill in to maximize the group’s volunteer work,” he said.
Osmon, who said he was in contact with Jozefowicz’s group, said he had supplied antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs to the army after spending a few days in the woods.
“Most people had an air raid fever because they hid in trenches of snow and cold air,” she said. “Bronchitis was hitting us.”
Etue said he enjoyed the atmosphere of the country after a 24-hour round trip with another volunteer to pick up a car in Odessa. He said he was impressed with the quality of the people who serve in the international army since the Ukrainians did a good job of getting rid of inexperienced “war tourists” who rarely serve the army.
“Given that they are at war with one of the largest standing armies in the world, I think they are doing surprisingly well,” he said.