{"id":63236,"date":"2022-06-16T21:05:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T21:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/16\/us-veterans-missing-in-ukraine-formed-bond-over-background\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:00:28","slug":"us-veterans-missing-in-ukraine-formed-bond-over-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2022\/06\/16\/us-veterans-missing-in-ukraine-formed-bond-over-background\/","title":{"rendered":"US veterans missing in Ukraine formed bond over background"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Editor\u2019s note: This story has been edited to correct the last name of Alex Drueke\u2019s aunt.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BIRMINGHAM, Ala. \u2014 Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh are both military veterans from Alabama, so it was natural that they formed a bond once they met in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/\">Ukraine<\/a>, where each traveled separately with the intention of helping defend democracy against Russian invaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey became buds,\u201d Dianna Shaw, Drueke\u2019s aunt, said in an interview Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both men are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/06\/15\/2-us-veterans-a-marine-and-a-soldier-reported-missing-in-ukraine\/\">missing<\/a> after their group came under heavy fire in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border on June 9, leaving loved ones at home anxiously awaiting information about their whereabouts. The two families are in touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe waiting is the hard part, but we always knew this was a possibility,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. State Department said it is investigating reports that Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces captured at least two American citizens. If true, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shaw said it\u2019s possible the two could just be lying low: She noted that the 39-year-old Drueke had extensive training and experience during two tours in Iraq, while Huynh, 27, served four years in the U.S. Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey know how to evade,\u201d she said. \u201cThey might be doing just that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia hasn\u2019t confirmed any information about the men. The president of the separatist Donetsk People\u2019s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said Thursday that \u201cas of now, I don\u2019t have such information and I cannot comment,\u201d according to the Interfax news agency. Pushilin spoke while attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Huynh\u2019s fiancee, Joy Black, said she got a message from a soldier telling her that both men had missed their rendezvous point and were in an area that was hit \u201cpretty hard.\u201d Black, speaking in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.waaytv.com\/news\/fianc-e-of-missing-trinity-veteran-who-joined-the-fight-in-ukraine-speaks-out\/article_a29d29a6-ed19-11ec-9f2a-a372c04dc8b0.html\">WAAY-TV,<\/a> said she ran to her mother\u2019s room and fell on the bed sobbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am trying to stay strong for him to get this word out and to try to get him back home. I am not going to lie and say that it has not been really, really hard,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear how many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/03\/14\/us-veterans-head-to-ukraine-to-fight-but-zelenskyys-legion-faces-hurdles\/\">Americans<\/a> have traveled overseas to assist Ukraine since fighting began in February but the number is believed to be in the hundreds, if not more.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/04\/29\/deliveries-to-bucha-us-army-veteran-trucks-aid-to-battle-scarred-ukrainian-towns\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"246\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_B8587386B909-1.jpeg.jpg?w=246\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Deliveries to Bucha: US Army veteran trucks aid to battle-scarred Ukrainian towns<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Army veteran Chris Loverro is one of thousands of veterans who have traveled to Ukraine to assist.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/05\/01\/combat-death-puts-spotlight-on-americans-fighting-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\">Harrison Jozefowicz<\/a>, who quit his job as a Chicago police officer and traveled to Ukraine soon after Russia invaded, is now helping place volunteers in combat positions and coordinating supplies as head of a group called Task Force Yankee. Several hundred Americans serve in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/03\/03\/volunteer-fighters-arrive-in-ukraine-but-the-untrained-should-stay-home\/\" target=\"_blank\">International Legion of Defense of Ukraine<\/a>, he said, and still more are assisting outside the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the volunteer world, the people who are here for the long haul are digging in and getting serious \u2014 buying warehouses, establishing permanent routes of logistics with dedicated drivers,\u201d he said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shaw said her nephew joined the Army at age 19 after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and he believed he could help Ukrainian fighters because of his training and experience with weapons. Drueke pondered whether to go for a few weeks, she said, and then made up his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe approached me and said, \u2018I\u2019m going to go to Ukraine.\u2019 I told him, \u2018For you, that makes sense,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cHe is really compelled to defend democracy wherever that meant going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1517\" height=\"2000\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-93608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg 1517w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg?resize=228,300 228w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg?resize=768,1013 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg?resize=777,1024 777w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22166760191198.jpg.jpg?resize=1165,1536 1165w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1517px) 100vw, 1517px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This photo taken April 6, 2022, in Hartselle, Ala., shows U.S. Marine veteran Andy Tai Huynh, who decided to fight with Ukraine in the war against Russia. Huyhn and another veteran from Alabama haven&#8217;t been heard from in days according to relatives and are considering missing. (Jeronimo Nisa\/The Decatur Daily via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Huynh moved to north Alabama two years ago from his native California and lives about 120 miles (193 kilometers) from Drueke. Before leaving for Europe, Huynh told his local newspaper, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.decaturdaily.com\/\">The Decatur Daily<\/a>, he couldn\u2019t stop thinking about Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know it wasn\u2019t my problem, but there was that gut feeling that I felt I had to do something,\u201d Huynh told the paper. \u201cTwo weeks after the war began, it kept eating me up inside and it just felt wrong. I was losing sleep. &#8230; All I could think about was the situation in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drueke doesn\u2019t have a wife or children, his aunt said, and he liked the idea of traveling to help Ukraine so someone with more familial connections wouldn\u2019t have to. He left in mid-April and entered Poland legally before going to the border and being allowed into Ukraine, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, Drueke\u2019s loved ones are in touch with the U.S. State Department, congressional offices or anywhere else that can help them find out what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And they\u2019re waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was how we lived while he was in Iraq, and it\u2019s how we live now,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The families of two military veterans from Alabama who are missing in Ukraine have joined together to seek information about their whereabouts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,19,65],"tags":[8528,8456],"coauthors":[2936],"class_list":["post-63236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-navy","tag-ukraine","tag-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BYGZ54AXQJDXJDZAWHPK3SF7FQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/06\/16\/us-veterans-missing-in-ukraine-formed-bond-over-background\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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