Posted on Oct 16, 2022
A retired Marine went missing in Ukraine. His family says he’s severely injured in a Russian...
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The family of a retired U.S. Marine believe he is on life support in a separatist-controlled hospital in Ukraine after he went to fight back the Russian invasion alongside the Ukrainian military. His wife and those helping her are now pleading with American officials for greater help in getting him home.
Grady Kurpasi, 50, traveled to Ukraine shortly after the war began in February to help with evacuations and train Ukrainian soldiers. He eventually joined up with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and saw the atrocities committed in the communities outside Kyiv before going missing in the battlefields near Kherson, in Ukraine’s south, at the end of April.
Kurpasi’s wife, Heeson Kim, said in an emotional phone call with NBC News that she shared a dossier with the State Department in June, which has since grown to 63 pages, that allegedly includes information on his location and how he was tracked across Ukraine. It was gathered over months by a team of veterans who served with Kurpasi in the Marines and a group of nongovernmental organizations that took on his case.
Grady Kurpasi, 50, traveled to Ukraine shortly after the war began in February to help with evacuations and train Ukrainian soldiers. He eventually joined up with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and saw the atrocities committed in the communities outside Kyiv before going missing in the battlefields near Kherson, in Ukraine’s south, at the end of April.
Kurpasi’s wife, Heeson Kim, said in an emotional phone call with NBC News that she shared a dossier with the State Department in June, which has since grown to 63 pages, that allegedly includes information on his location and how he was tracked across Ukraine. It was gathered over months by a team of veterans who served with Kurpasi in the Marines and a group of nongovernmental organizations that took on his case.
A retired Marine went missing in Ukraine. His family says he’s severely injured in a Russian...
Posted from nbcnews.com
Marines
Russia
Ukraine
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel I hope my Brother is alive and can return home soon. Thanks for this share Brother Chip.
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PV2 Larry Sellnow keep him on the first floor... or at least not close to ant window.
..."A retired Marine Corps officer, Kurpasi was adopted by an American couple from South Korea as a young child. He served multiple tours in the Iraq War, where he was wounded by a suicide bomber as an enlisted soldier. He received the vaunted Pat Tillman scholarship — which provides education funding to promising leaders with military backgrounds — while in the service, which allowed him to attend UCLA and become a commissioned officer. Kurpasi has lived in North Carolina with his wife since he retired in 2021.
Those who served with him in Ukraine and in the Marines said Kurpasi was an incredible leader, who was quick to act when needed and would never send his unit to a place he wouldn’t himself venture.
Many said they were immensely frustrated with what they felt was a slow response by the U.S. government, and it had left them effectively at a “diplomatic stalemate” as they did not know what more they could do.
“It’s frustrating because with someone’s background like Grady’s you’d think more could be done,” said Don Turner, a retired U.S. Marine who served with Kurpasi in the Iraq War. “At least you would think so, especially after what he did for this country for 20 years.”...
..."A retired Marine Corps officer, Kurpasi was adopted by an American couple from South Korea as a young child. He served multiple tours in the Iraq War, where he was wounded by a suicide bomber as an enlisted soldier. He received the vaunted Pat Tillman scholarship — which provides education funding to promising leaders with military backgrounds — while in the service, which allowed him to attend UCLA and become a commissioned officer. Kurpasi has lived in North Carolina with his wife since he retired in 2021.
Those who served with him in Ukraine and in the Marines said Kurpasi was an incredible leader, who was quick to act when needed and would never send his unit to a place he wouldn’t himself venture.
Many said they were immensely frustrated with what they felt was a slow response by the U.S. government, and it had left them effectively at a “diplomatic stalemate” as they did not know what more they could do.
“It’s frustrating because with someone’s background like Grady’s you’d think more could be done,” said Don Turner, a retired U.S. Marine who served with Kurpasi in the Iraq War. “At least you would think so, especially after what he did for this country for 20 years.”...
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