by Paolo Foschi
He was 22 and leaves behind a 7 month old son. He was sent to the front by a private construction company, he supported the Kiev troops against the Russians
My husband died in Ukraine. He left with a desire to help people, he always felt that this was his main purpose in life. He dreamed of becoming a police officer or a fireman: Brittany Cancel, widow of Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, who died in combat in Ukraine on April 26, was recruited by a contractor to help Kyiv’s armed forces against the Russian offensive support. The story of this boy, who is survived by a 7-month-old son and a very young wife, moved America and was told in a lengthy AP report, signed by journalist Jonathan Drew. The news of his death was reported to the media by close relatives and was confirmed by his mother, Rebecca Cabrera.
Willy Joseph Cancel recently volunteered for the New York Fire Department for a few months, then worked as a correctional officer at a private prison in Tennessee, Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a medium-security facility near Nashville, from May 2021 to last January. In his young life, the experience that he himself considered the most significant was another, the military one, which ended badly. In 2017, just graduating from Newburgh Free Academy in New York, he enlisted in the Marines, where he remained in a rifle unit in North Carolina until 2021 (without ever serving in overseas war scenarios). His military career ended with his discharge after a “misconduct” conviction for disobeying an order from superiors (the Marine Corps gave no further details).
Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he had been hired by a construction company with security contracts in various “hot” scenarios around the world and then chosen for the front line against Russia. He believed in what Ukraine was fighting for and wanted to be a part of it to prevent war from coming here, his mother told CNN. It is very sad news, commented American President Joe Biden, even though the White House, although it has read reports of the young man’s death, has not yet received official confirmation. We know people want to help, but we encourage Americans to find other ways to do it instead of traveling to Ukraine to fight, White House spokesman Jen Psaki said.
According to Rebecca Cabrera, Willy Joseph Cancel left for Poland on March 12 and entered Ukraine a few days later. He wanted to fight, he felt an obligation because the war was wrong, and he wanted to help, but the memory of Triston Mannahan, 21, the boy’s former roommate, was very brave. Willy Joseph Cancel, according to available news, the first American to die in combat in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
April 30, 2022 (Change April 30, 2022 | 03:49)
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