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| Retired US Marine Grady Kurpasi Went to Ukraine to Fight. Then He Disappeared |
| 2023-07-07 |
| [Rolling Stone] RADY KURPASI AND Andy Hill dove to the ground as the forest around them exploded. There was a rapid pop, pop, pop as rifle fire pounded the dirt and trees and Russian infantry edged closer and closer. Kurpasi, a 49-year-old American former Marine sniper who volunteered to fight with the Ukrainian International Legion, and Hill, a 35-year-old British volunteer, desperately returned fire. Kurpasi called for help on a hand-held radio. But Kurpasi and Hill were on their own. The two men crawled on their stomachs trying to make it back to their team roughly 600 meters away. Suddenly, another burst of fire. Hill saw Kurpasi get hit. A split second later, a bullet shattered Hill’s left arm. Before Hill could react, a Russian soldier jammed a gun barrel to his head. Hill was led by the Russians back to their armored vehicle, where a tourniquet was applied to his arm. Still dazed, he realized he’d been separated from Kurpasi and had no idea if he survived. Later that evening, in Wilmington, North Carolina, Kurpasi’s wife, Heeson, got a call from someone claiming to be from the Ukrainian International Legion. Kurpasi was dead, killed fighting in the south of Ukraine, they told her. But Heeson refused to believe it. Her husband had come home from so many deployments to Iraq, even surviving a suicide bomber. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |