A 22-year-old former US Marine was killed along with Ukrainian forces during the war with Russia, his relatives told reporters at the first known death of a US citizen fighting in Ukraine.
Willie Joseph Cancel was killed Monday while working for a military company that sent him to Ukraine, his mother Rebecca Cabrera told CNN. Cancel recently worked as a correctional officer in Tennessee and previously served in the Marines from 2017-21, joining the service the same year he graduated from high school.
Cabrera said her son signed to work with a private military contractor shortly before the fighting in Ukraine began on February 24th. She told CNN that he had agreed to go to Ukraine.
“He wanted to cross because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be part of it to keep him there so that he wouldn’t come here and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to take part in him, “she said.
Cabrera said her son’s body was not found.
“They didn’t find his body,” she said. “They are trying, the men who were with him, but it was either to grab his body or be killed, but we would like him to come back to us.
She said her son flew to Poland on March 12th and entered Ukraine shortly after. She said he was fighting alongside men from a number of countries.
Cancel also served as a volunteer firefighter in New York, leaving behind a 7-month-old son, according to an online fundraising page created by a man who identified himself as his father. His wife received a call informing her of his death on Tuesday, the page said. The father writes that Cancel decided to leave for Ukraine in early March because he wants to protect innocent people.
Cancel graduated from the Newburgh Free Academy in New York in 2017, the school district announced. Participates in the corps of junior reserve officers while in high school.
Cancelle worked at a private prison in Tennessee from May 2021 to January, said Matthew Davio, a spokesman for the private prison company CoreCivic. The Trussdale Turner Correctional Facility, a medium-protected facility, is about an hour northeast of Nashville.
“As a correctional officer, Mr. Cancelle serves the state and his community by helping to maintain a safe and secure environment where prisoners can participate in life-changing re-entry programs. We are grateful for his service and saddened by his loss, “Davio said in a statement.
While in the Marines, Cancel served as an archer and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was fired for misconduct after being convicted of violating a lawful general order, Marine spokesman Major Jim Stenger said.
He had no military zones, Stenger said. No other details of the misconduct sentence were provided.
The United States has not confirmed reports of Cancel’s death. On Friday, the State Department said it was aware of the reports and was “monitoring the situation closely”, but could not comment further “for reasons of confidentiality”.
“We reaffirm that American citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the separation of American citizens in Ukraine from Russian government security officials, and that US citizens in Ukraine should leave immediately if it is safe to do so. using any commercial or other private ground transportation options, “the State Department said.
Cancel’s widow, Brittany Cancel, told Fox News that he was leaving a young son behind and that she saw her husband as a hero.
“My husband really died in Ukraine,” said Brittany Cancel. “He went there eager to help people, he always felt that this was his main mission in life.
She said her husband had voluntarily left for Ukraine, but also aspired to become a police officer or firefighter.
“He had dreams and aspirations to be a police officer or join the FDNY,” she told Fox. “Naturally, when he found out about what was happening in Ukraine, he was eager to volunteer.
It is estimated that tens of thousands of Ukrainians were killed in the war. Other U.S. peacekeepers were killed, including a documentary filmmaker who was killed when his car was shot at a checkpoint and a man who was killed while waiting in line for bread.
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Drew reported from Durham, North Carolina. Contributed were AP diplomat writer Matthew Lee in Washington and Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Allen G. Breed in Hubert, North Carolina; Christine Hall in Murray, Kentucky; Karen Matthews in New York; and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky.
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