It is the first known death of a US citizen fighting Russian forces in Ukraine.
A former United States Marine has been killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia.
Willy Joseph Cancel was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine. Cancel had recently worked as a corrections officer in Tennessee and had previously served in the Marines from 2017 to 21, joining the service the same year he graduated from high school.
When the war began, Ukraine formed fighting groups of foreign volunteers composed of military veterans to supplement its regular forces. Thousands signed up and traveled to Ukraine via neighboring countries like Poland.
Many were quickly thrown into the defense of Kyiv, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
Rebecca Cabrera said her son’s body has not been found.
BREAKING:
The former U.S. Marine, 22-year-old Willy Joseph Cancel, is the first American to have been killed fighting for Ukraine.
He leaves behind a wife and 7-month-old daughter.
Rest In Peace. Ukraine will not forget your sacrifice!
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 29, 2022
More details of this unfortunate incident from The Daily Mail:
A former U.S. Marine was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces after the private security firm he worked for sent him to war.
The family of Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, of Orange County New York, confirmed that the husband and father of a seven-month-old son had died in the Ukraine fighting Russian forces on Monday, CNN reported.
He is survived by his wife Brittany, who he married in July 2019, as well as the couple’s seven month-old son Anthony.
Cancel’s mother, Rebecca Cabrera, said her son was working for a private military contracting company when he agreed to take up a job to fight in the Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February.
‘He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,’ Cabrera told CNN.
The circumstances of Cancel’s death remain unclear, including how and where he was killed.
BREAKING (AP): Relatives say a former U.S. Marine has been killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in war with Russia. Rebecca Cabrera said her son, 22-year-old Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) April 29, 2022
BREAKING: Former US Marine from Orange County, 22-year-old Willy Cancel, killed fighting in Ukraine – according to multiple reports.
Photo courtesy – Willy and Brittany Cancel/Facebook pic.twitter.com/Z3Za2Hpv40
— Blaise Gomez (@BlaiseGomez12) April 29, 2022
Sources: WLT, The Daily Mail
