An American citizen and Marine veteran Willy Joseph Cancel has died fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, the man’s widow confirmed to Fox News Digital early Friday morning. “My husband died in Ukraine,” Brittany Cancel, the widow of a 22-year-old veteran marine, told Fox News Digital. “He went there wanting to help people, he always felt that this was his main mission in life.” RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES Cancel leaves behind his wife and a 7-month-old son. Brittany and Willy Cancel, photo credit Brittany Cancel. (Photo by Brittany Cancel) “My husband was very brave and a hero,” Cancel said. “I did not expect to be a widow at the age of 23 or for our son to be fatherless. All I want is for him to return home and give him the proper burial he deserves.” The Marine veteran enrolled to work for a private military contractor company in addition to his full-time job as a penitentiary shortly before the war broke out in Ukraine in late February, Willy Cancel’s mother Rebecca Cabrera told CNN. After the start of the war, the company asked contractors to fight in Ukraine and Cancel agreed to go, the mother said. Cabrera did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News. Willy Cancel on tour in Japan. Photo: Brittany Cancel (Photo by Brittany Cancel) Cancel flew to Poland on March 12 and flew to Ukraine at a point between March 12 and March 13. “Before he wanted to help the effort in Ukraine, he was a detention officer in Kentucky,” the widow told Fox News. “He had dreams and ambitions to become a police officer or join the FDNY. Of course, when he learned about what was happening in Ukraine, he wanted to volunteer.” Willy and Brittany Cancel at their wedding. Photo: Brittany Cancel (Photo by Brittany Cancel) Cancel seems to be the first US citizen to die fighting on the side of the Ukrainians in Ukraine. Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, killed in Ukraine last month along with a Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova24. Benjamin Hall suffered serious leg injuries in the same attack. Brent Renaud, 51, a documentary filmmaker who worked with the New York Times, also died in Ukraine last month. This is a story that is evolving and will be updated.
