Former US Marine Killed Fighting in Ukraine

[WillBrink]

First American killed in battle supposedly:


Former US Marine Killed Fighting in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Marine was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia, his relatives told news outlets in what's the first known death of a U.S. citizen fighting in Ukraine.

Rebecca Cabrera told CNN her son, Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine.

Cabrera said her son was working as a corrections officer in Tennessee and had signed up to work with the private military contractor shortly before fighting began in Ukraine in late February. She told CNN he agreed to go to Ukraine.

“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,” she said.

Cabrera said her son's body has not been found.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/...g-ukraine.html

[Mjolnir]

I saw that.

What in Hades was he thinking??


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[Alpha-17]

I heard about that yesterday. Sounds like he left behind a wife and a 7 month-old baby. That hits home.


On the less glamorous side, I've heard he had a bad conduct discharge from the Corps, and was working for a PMC getting paid a fair amount for being there. Makes him less of a heroic freedom fighter, and more of a mercenary or at best a security guard. Nothing against either mercenaries or security guards, but the bad conduct discharge puts him in a negative light for me.

[eightmillimeter]

I heard about that yesterday. Sounds like he left behind a wife and a 7 month-old baby. That hits home.


On the less glamorous side, I've heard he had a bad conduct discharge from the Corps, and was working for a PMC getting paid a fair amount for being there. Makes him less of a heroic freedom fighter, and more of a mercenary or at best a security guard. Nothing against either mercenaries or security guards, but the bad conduct discharge puts him in a negative light for me.

Probably got discharged for being anti-woke or refused a vax, don’t be so quick

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Probably got discharged for being anti-woke or refused a vax, don’t be so quick

Lol. Marine's have been getting discharged for centuries for being pieces of shit, don't be so quick.

[Alpha-17]

Probably got discharged for being anti-woke or refused a vax, don’t be so quick

And would that result in a bad conduct discharge? When I was in, guys getting kicked out of the Army for drug use got an "other than honorable" discharge, not a bad conduct/dishonorable. Does anyone know what those being separated for not getting the vax were getting as their discharge?

[Tanner]

Fighting for the ukraine, no. A sad and unfortunate situation, but not my problem. Most likely the individual was paid for services rendered, aware of risk, and pursued the option. Unfortunate only for his family and friends.

[SteyrAUG]

I heard about that yesterday. Sounds like he left behind a wife and a 7 month-old baby. That hits home.


On the less glamorous side, I've heard he had a bad conduct discharge from the Corps, and was working for a PMC getting paid a fair amount for being there. Makes him less of a heroic freedom fighter, and more of a mercenary or at best a security guard. Nothing against either mercenaries or security guards, but the bad conduct discharge puts him in a negative light for me.

Story reads he was a corrections officer until the fighting started and then he decided to PMC. I don't think anyone here is qualified to state his true motivations for doing so. At 22 most people are motivated by all kinds of things from money to "Damn I was a Marine once...I gotta do something with myself that makes a difference."

Also until somebody has the details regarding the nature of his discharge, we probably shouldn't speculate.

[jsbhike]

Story reads he was a corrections officer until the fighting started and then he decided to PMC. I don't think anyone here is qualified to state his true motivations for doing so. At 22 most people are motivated by all kinds of things from money to "Damn I was a Marine once...I gotta do something with myself that makes a difference."

Also until somebody has the details regarding the nature of his discharge, we probably shouldn't speculate.

https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/relat...ng-in-ukraine/

"While in the Marines, Cancel served as a rifleman and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was given a bad conduct discharge after he was convicted of violating a lawful general order, Marine Corps spokesperson Maj. Jim Stenger said.

He had no war zone deployments, Stenger said. No other details on the bad conduct conviction were provided."

[WillBrink]

Story reads he was a corrections officer until the fighting started and then he decided to PMC. I don't think anyone here is qualified to state his true motivations for doing so. At 22 most people are motivated by all kinds of things from money to "Damn I was a Marine once...I gotta do something with myself that makes a difference."

Also until somebody has the details regarding the nature of his discharge, we probably shouldn't speculate.

If doing the PMC thing, who is the paying client? Ukrainian gubment hiring mercs? The whole thing reads odd, but need more details.