Former U.S. Marine Killed in Ukraine War, Leaves Behind Wife and New Baby
An American citizen and former U.S. Marine who was fighting alongside Ukrainian forces amid the Russian invasion has been killed, outlets including CNN and NBC News report, leaving behind a wife and a 7-month-old baby.
Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed on Monday while working with a private military contracting company in Ukraine (a job for which he was paid), his mother told CNN. Cancel, 22, was a former U.S. Marine and corrections officer in Tennessee.
According to CNN, Cancel joined the private contractor near the end of February, shortly before the Russian invasion into Ukraine began.
"He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn't come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn't have to be involved in it," his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN.
She added that her son was someone who "always put everybody ahead of himself."
"He always kept everybody laughing and calm," she said. "He was the man that stood up when everybody else stood back."
Cabrera told the outlet her son flew to Poland on March 12 and then crossed into Ukraine shortly after. His body, she added, has still not been found.
"They are trying, the men that were with him, but it was either grab his body or get killed, but we would love for him to come back to us," she told CNN.
While the U.S. military is not on the ground in Ukraine — where Russia's attack on the country continues after its forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — some veterans have opted to travel to the country despite the considerable risks.
Hundreds of Americans have contacted Ukraine's embassy in Washington, D.C., eager to assist the country as it fights against Russian invaders. Ukraine's own foreign minister solicited volunteers to assist with the fighting days after Russia invaded in February.
The U.S. State Department, however, has explicitly warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Ukraine to engage in combat — which could lead to them being captured, killed or used for political propaganda purposes or recruited and radicalized by other groups, officials warn.
In an advisory posted to its website, the department said that although it was "not a crime under U.S. law for an individual to go abroad for the purpose of enlisting in a foreign army," it could be a violation if that person was recruited or hired in America — and could even be grounds for "the relinquishment of U.S. citizenship."
The State Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment concerning Cancel's death.
Details of the fighting in Ukraine change by the day, but more than 3,000 civilians have been reported dead or wounded, including more than 100 children, the United Nations says. More than 3 million Ukrainians have also fled.