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Fairfield County resident James Vasquez, age 47, of Norwalk, is on the front lines and is telling a harrowing story via Twitter of the resolve and grit of the Ukrainian soldiers and people.
In a post from just 20 hours ago, Vasquez tweeted: "Just went through six straight hours of combat. I have crazy video I’ll post later. 2 men were shot but will be ok. One fatality 😞"
In return, Vasquez wrote that the Ukrainian forces had taken out numerous Russians as well as several Russian tanks.
Vasquez, a home renovation contractor and former Army staff sergeant who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, traveled to Ukraine a month ago to join the fight after telling his wife, Tina, and their four adult children that he couldn't sit by and watch what was happening without helping, according to the DailyMail.com.
'It's in his DNA, and he approached me, came to me after work, and said, "We need to talk, I can't watch this on TV, I need to go help these guys,"' Tina told the DailyMail.com.
Financing the trip himself, the undertaking has been an expensive one and a burden to his family, Vasquez said on Twitter.
"People have been asking if they can send money. My Venmo is @james-vasquez-34," he wrote on Twitter. "I have been hemorrhaged money to do this with no income coming in because I have a small business. I also buy food when we are low, toiletries, and even my own rounds."
But money is not the reason Vasquez is in Ukraine. He makes it clear he is there is to help the fighters and the people who are in many cases, he wrote, without food or water.
On Thursday, March 24, Vasquez posted a video showing the remains of a decimated Russian tank after clearing a village of Russian occupation.
"This village has been Russian occupied for a month, they terrorized the people and took their food. Today we entered, took out seven tanks and countless Russians thus liberating these people," wrote Vasquez on Twitter.
Ukraine's armed forces shared the video and praised the work of the International Legion made up of volunteers from other countries, mostly military veterans, the DailyMail.com wrote.
In another Twitter post, Vasquez said the men were undertrained, but what they lacked in skills they make up in courage. He added that he had been training them on tactical maneuvers, use of thermal and night vision, proper weapon cleaning, etc,' he wrote in one update on Thursday, adding that the Ukrainian troops were "fast learners."
In a Twitter update this week, he wrote that his weapon was "pretty beat up" and that he had traded it in for an AK-47 that he took from a Russian.
Vasquez's wife told DailyMail.com that he plans to stay in the fight in Ukraine for at least two months.
Visit @jmvasquez1974 on Twitter to follow the fight.
Click here to read the entire DailyMail.com story.
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