A 22-year-old Marine turned private security contractor was killed while fighting in Ukraine, leaving behind a wife and 7-month-old child

Willy Joseph Cancel, a former US Marine, was killed during the fighting in Ukraine after the private security firm which he worked for sent him to war. Cancel, from Orange County New York, leaves behind a wife and seven-month-old son.

Cancel’s family describes him as a hero eager to aid the Ukraine before US troops get sent over.

From the Daily Mail:

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.”

“It was something that he believed in his heart, that was the right thing,’ Cabrera said. ‘He was the type of man who always stepped up when everybody else stepped back, and there were a lot of men who were like that that were with him.”

He died fighting for something which he believed in and trying to make a positive impact on the world.

Cancel’s body has not been found and recovered, according to the men he was fighting alongside.

The US government continues to warn against Americans traveling to Ukraine, due to being singled out by Russian security forces. It is currently unknown how many Americans have joined the international volunteer forces for Ukraine, however the Ukrainian Defense Ministry estimates around 20,000 veterans from across 52 nations have taken up arms in their fight against the Russian invasion.