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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Wed Feb 16, 2022, 06:08 PM Feb 2022

'This Is Their 1776': US Army Veterans Train Ukraine Civilians in Resistance Warfare

KYIV, Ukraine — During his two tours in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger, Adam never wrote a death letter to his mother. After just two days in Ukraine, he’s finally ready to write that last farewell. Although he’s come to help train civilians in irregular warfare, Adam, who spent four years of his early adulthood fighting insurgents in Afghanistan, says he’s now ready to join a Ukrainian insurgency — should Russian forces attack the capital city of Kyiv.

“I’m just here because the Ukrainians are fighting for their independence and I think I can help that. I figured it would be a better use of my time on this earth to come help them,” says Adam, who asked that his last name not be used due to security concerns.

“This is their 1776,” he adds.

A 25-year-old former US Army corporal from South Carolina, Adam served in the 1st Ranger Battalion from 2015 to 2019. On this Tuesday night, Feb. 8, he’s enjoying pizza and beer at a downtown Kyiv restaurant. When he starts to explain what it was like to say goodbye to his mother a few days ago, he pauses, takes a swig of beer, and waits a moment. For a split second, the young man’s eyes reflect the light a little differently. Then he blinks his eyes clear and says, “My mom really didn’t want me to go. It was the hardest goodbye of my life.”

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/02/16/their-1776-us-army-veterans-train-ukraine-civilians-resistance-warfare.html

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