The Americans Fighting and Dying in Ukraine

In late February 2022, I joined two friends, fellow combat veterans, in Lviv, in western Ukraine. We spent two weeks training a group of civilians in combat basics and self-defense. It was a frightening and thrilling and inspiring experience, and then we returned home to America, to our families, as the war progressed and endured. Others went forward. With interest and perhaps a bit of envy, I watched the volunteers of Ukraine coalesce and organize through the summer and into the early autumn. Then, this past fall, I decided to go back, for three weeks, joined by one of the other trainers from February, Marine veteran Ben Busch. We wanted to see the volunteer ecosystem that's developed and to meet some of the people who've upended their lives for it.

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE The Secret Weapons of Ukraine In late February 2022, I joined two friends, fellow combat veterans, in Lviv, in western Ukraine. We spent two weeks training a group of civilians in combat basics and self-defense. It was a frightening and thrilling and inspiring experience, and then we returned home to America, to our families, as the war progressed and endured. Others went forward. With interest and perhaps a bit of envy, I watched the volunteers of Ukraine coalesce and organize through the summer and into the early autumn. Then, this past fall, I decided to go back, for three weeks, joined by one of the other trainers from February, Marine veteran Ben Busch. We wanted to see the volunteer ecosystem that's developed and to meet some of the people who've upended their lives for it. Read More The 12 Best and Most Comfortable Sectional Sofas to Cozy Up Your Space Couches you can really stretch out on. Read More Ed Speleers Is Ready to Go Supernova In Star Trek: Picard, Speleers plays a character destined to break the Internet. He's ready for his spinoff show—but he wouldn't mind playing James Bond, either. Read More Drinking Irish Whiskey with Liev Schreiber, Plus a Chaser of Soul-Baring Liev Schreiber is in pitch mode. It's a Wednesday evening, and the actor and Ray Donovan star is holding court in the Baccarat Room at Zero Bond, the exclusive, private club on Bond Street in downtown Manhattan. On this night, Schreiber has invited a dozen or so of his fellow members to taste some expensive Irish whiskey. An expert is on hand to provide a quick education on the history of Irish spirits and offer tasting notes on how, say, the twenty-one-year-old Redbreast compares with an eighteen-year-old bottle of Teeling. Schreiber, however, is the star attraction. Read More The Most Comfortable Dress Shoes That Don't Sacrifice Style These polished, pulled-together options also happen to feel fantastic underfoot. Read More Florida Legislator's Defamation Bill Is a Shot at Long-Standing Media Protections And if you think the Supreme Court wouldn't consider kneecapping that precedent, you haven't been paying attention. Read More We Finally Have a House of the Dragon Season Two Timeline It takes time to grow a dragon egg. Fans may be anxiously awaiting the next saga of House of the Dragon since it officially renewed for Season Two, but it's looking more and more likely that we won't see any flying beasts on our screens again until HBO reveals when it'll be ready. Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys wants to get the series right after the Game of Thrones prequel series shattered records for the most-watched debut episode in HBO history, knowing that roughly 25 million-plus people in its first week was just the beginning. Read More Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice/Notice at Collection esquire.com ©2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019