An Army veteran from Idaho has been reported dead months after flying to Europe to assist Ukraine in its war against the invaders.
Dane Partridge was a soldier, husband, and father who couldn’t stand idle and do nothing when he learned that the very freedom and existence of the Ukrainian people were at risk when Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded their country earlier this year.
As his family revealed, Dane decided to leave his homeland and his family behind on April 25 to join Ukraine’s initiative to defend their homeland.
Unfortunately, the veteran’s family now confirmed that the man died after being hit by shrapnel and suffering “extensive damage to the spinal cord, brain stem, and neck” while fighting in Donbas.
“We have just been informed that Dane aka Bird has passed away while still being on life support,” the soldier’s sister, Jenny Partridge Corry, revealed.
“He was a fine soldier who fought with valor and bravery on the battlefield. We have been told that he was known to be at the front of his team leading his men as he would never ask his men to do anything that he wasn’t willing to do.”
The grim news comes just days after Dane’s father announced that his son was critically injured while fighting for Ukraine’s freedom.
“I have found it difficult to discuss the events of this last week, my son Dane who was fighting for freedom in Ukraine, was critically injured by a Russian tank round, and currently in a coma with a significant brain injury,” the father said in his post.
Speaking of the Army veteran’s decision to leave his own wife and children to fight in another country, one of Dane’s friends said that he tried his best to convince him not to go.
“I wanted to tell him so badly not to go. He wasn’t Ukrainian, he didn’t have family from there, he was just a guy from Idaho. I wanted to tell him that his family, his friends, and his old battle buddies needed him here, safe,” the friend recalled.
“But he felt so strongly about it that he went. And there’s no possible way to talk someone out of something like that. Nor can you even approach them about it. He felt that same call to defend the Ukrainian people as he did for the Iraqi people. Maybe he’s a better man than me for that.”
He added: “He gave his life – all that he could possibly give – for strangers in a foreign country in a war in which he had no stake. His grave is in Kiev, as he can’t be retrieved right now because of the war. His family will go there when peace returns to place a headstone for him.”
Our thoughts are with Dane’s family and friends during this challenging time.
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