“What Shores Know Not Our Blood” is how Marine Corps veteran Grady Kurpasi, killed in Ukraine in May of this year, signed off his emails.
UPDATE: Task & Purpose has just reported on what may be the 17th American volunteer killed in the Ukraine War: Army veteran Jeffrey Judd Jones. Please read more here.
Original Post:
Ever since the beginning of our nation’s history, Americans have served, and fought, and shed blood with armies not their own and with foreign revolutionary and guerilla groups around he world for a multitude of reasons, including honor and patriotism, out of a sense of adventure, for humanitarian reasons, for principles and ideology, disdain of tyranny, because they like combat and for money.
They have been called – fairly or not; accurately or not — soldiers of fortune, soldiers for hire, freelance mercenaries, war volunteers, hired guns, even traitors.
Examining the legality of American volunteers in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, the Columbia Undergraduate Law Review poses, “Heroes or Criminals.” *
The lines are blurry, the work clearly dangerous.
Today, “even as we speak,” American civilians are serving and fighting in Ukraine.
The deaths on July 29 of two former members of the U.S. military — former U.S. Captain Andrew Irvin Webber and former U. S. Marine infantry soldier Lance Lawrence – both killed in a drone attack in eastern Ukraine, remind us that American volunteers continue to make the ultimate sacrifice under a foreign flag.
Webber and Lawrence are the latest deaths in in a war “that is believed to have claimed at least 16 American lives, though no official count is available,” according to the Stars and Stripes.
Willy Joseph Cancel Jr., 22, a former Marine infantry soldier is believed to be the first American to die in combat in Ukraine, a mere two months after Russia invaded that country.
His death was followed, in 2022, by the deaths of at least nine other Americans — several of them U.S. Army veterans — serving with the International Legion of Ukraine**, with humanitarian aid groups and with human-rights organizations.
This year, in addition to Webber and Lawrence, at least five more Americans have been killed in Ukraine. Most of them military veterans, some in combat, some volunteering with humanitarian and medical aid groups, such as retired Green Beret Nicholas Maimer and Marine Corps veteran Pete Reed, killed in May and February 2023, respectively.
Recall one of the reasons listed for why Americans would fight for foreign armies is “money”?
It is reported that the Ukraine International Legion pays between $500 and $3,500 per month for such “services.”
These days, hardly an amount for which one would risk life and limb.
But why do these men do exactly that?
Ryan O’Leary, an American serving in Ukraine wrote the following on (the former) Twitter about Andrew Webber who leaves behind a wife and two young daughters:
The obligation to put his life on the line to help others in need was in Andrew’s blood… Compassionate and kindhearted to the core, and a warrior through and through. He died a hero, he died our brother, and he will remain both forever.
But the surviving family members of those who gave their lives for “foreign causes” can perhaps best explain.
Reflecting on her husband, Pete Reed, 33, who was working as a humanitarian medic in Ukraine when he was killed on February 2, 2023, Alex Potter says, “He was always willing to help everyone and anyone…His core values were compassion and kindness and helping out people who needed it, no matter their circumstances. I think that’s a value that we as a nation should always strive towards.”
The mother of Trent Davis, a 21-year-old U.S. Army veteran killed in Ukraine in November 2022, says, “He wanted to do his part to bring kids into a safer world, even if it could cause him to sacrifice his life…he just wanted to help people…That’s why he went to Ukraine, she said — not once, but twice.”
On Veterans Day 2022, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked American veterans for their service and made a special point of thanking the American volunteers:
…For almost 250 years the men and women of the United States armed forces have prevailed against tyranny often against great odds. Your example inspires Ukrainians today to fight back against Russian tyranny. Special thanks to the many American veterans who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine and – to the American people for the amazing support you have given Ukraine…God Bless America and Glory to Ukraine!
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* For excellent analyses of this complex issue, please read:
“Heroes or Criminals: The Legality of American Volunteers in the Russo-Ukrainian War” by The Columbia Undergraduate Law Review, and
“America’s Ambiguous Laws on Foreign Military Volunteers and their Potential Impact in Ukraine” by the St Andrews Law Review.
** The International Legion of Ukraine or “the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine” was created by President Zelenskyy just days after the Russian invasion to consist of “foreign citizens wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security.” The number of foreign fighters in Ukraine is unclear, but estimates run into the thousands, from more than fifty countries.
