After the State Division introduced {that a} third American is lacking in Ukraine, members of the family recognized the particular person to Navy.com as Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi.
Kurpasi, whose spouse confirmed he’s lacking in Ukraine, is a 20-year Marine Corps veteran with a storied service document.
He enlisted simply two months after Sept. 11, 2001, and deployed to Iraq thrice, in accordance with particulars of his service supplied by the Marine Corps. He earned a Fight Motion Ribbon and a Purple Coronary heart, in addition to a number of Navy and Marine Corps Achievement and Commendation medals. Ultimately, Kurpasi was chosen to grow to be an infantry officer, making captain in 2015. He retired from the Corps in November 2021.
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State Division spokesman Ned Worth mentioned that Kurpasi “had traveled to Ukraine to take up arms … in current weeks” however famous that, “sadly, we do not know the complete particulars of that case.”
CNN, which first confirmed Kurpasi’s identification, reported {that a} household buddy mentioned the retired Marine officer “needed to go and assist the Ukrainian individuals. He wasn’t actually planning on combating.”
The information of the lacking Marine officer comes on the heels of two different army veterans reported lacking and feared captured by Russians final week. Alexander Drueke, a 39-year-old Army veteran who served as a “chemical operations specialist” and left the service as a employees sergeant, and Andy Huynh, a 27-year-old “engineer gear operator” and former corporal within the Marines, traveled to Ukraine about two months after Russia’s preliminary invasion. The Army and Marine Corps supplied the service historical past of each veterans to Navy.com.
Requested concerning the three lacking males on Friday, President Joe Biden informed reporters that he is been briefed however did not know the place they have been, earlier than forcefully noting that “Individuals shouldn’t be going to Ukraine.”
In the meantime, Worth mentioned Thursday that the State Division hasn’t “seen something from the Russians indicating that two such people are of their custody,” alluding to Drueke and Huynh.
“Now we have not raised this but with the Russian Federation,” Worth mentioned Thursday. “If we really feel that such outreach … can be productive when it comes to discovering out extra data on the whereabouts of those people, we can’t hesitate to try this.”
— Konstantin Toropin will be reached at konstantin.toropin@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @ktoropin.
— Drew F. Lawrence will be reached at drew.lawrence@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @df_lawrence.
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