
Willy Joseph Cancel, a US resident and Navy veteran fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against the Russian army was killed in action this week. He was 22 years old and the death was confirmed by his family.
The young man died on Monday (25) while fighting in the international brigade of soldiers fighting Russia in the country, his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN. He, who had gone with a private military company, is the first American killed in the fighting.
The young man’s mother said he went to defend Ukraine
In an interview with CNN, Cancel’s mother said, “He wanted to go because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting and he wanted to be a part of it to contain[the war]there so it wouldn’t get here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to. get involved in it”.
His wife, Bittany, told ABC News “My husband was very brave and a hero,” she said. “I did not expect to be a widow at 23 or for our son to be fatherless.”
Family members are now begging for the soldier’s body to be found and returned to the United States.