President Joe Biden is in shock following the news that an American, Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed while confronting the Russian Army in support of the Ukrainian forces.
Biden, while speaking with reporters at the White House, said “It is very sad. He left a little baby behind,”
CNN reports that a member of Cancel’s family confirmed that he was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
The 22-year-old was working with a private military contracting company when he was killed on April 25. The company sent him to Ukraine, and he was being paid while he was fighting there, Cancel’s mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told the TV station.
Cancel served in the US Marine Corps from December 2017 until November 2021, according to Marine spokesperson Maj. Jim Stenger.
Cabrera said her son signed up to work for the private military contracting company on top of his full-time job as a corrections officer in Tennessee shortly before the war in Ukraine broke out at the end of February.
She said the company was searching for contractors to fight in Ukraine and Cancel agreed to go.
“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,” Cabrera told CNN in a phone interview.
White House press secretary, Jen Psaki on Friday offered condolences to Cancel’s family, but said the US government was yet to officially confirm his death. Paski cautioned Americans against traveling to Ukraine for any reason.
“Well, first of all, our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We don’t have official confirmation, even though we’ve seen the reports, but we have not had that official process through the government, so I can’t speak to other specifics about him beyond that,” Paski said
