KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 A funeral service was held in Kyiv on Friday for a U.S. Marine Corps veteran killed while serving alongside Ukrainian forces. Family and friends said 21-year-old Ethan Hertweck had given his life fighting for freedom.
Hertweck, from California, traveled to Ukraine soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, initially assisting some of the millions of women and children who were fleeing the country in the earliest days of the war.
After returning to the United States for several months, he returned to Ukraine to receive a combat medical license, and trained Ukrainian troops before himself joining a combat unit as a medic.
In December 2023 he was guarding a military bunker in the eastern industrial region of the Donbas when Russian forces overtook his unit鈥檚 position. When one of his unit was wounded, Hertweck attempted to drag him back to the safety of the bunker but was hit by gunfire in the process. He died soon after.
At the funeral service in Kyiv鈥檚 Independence Square, Hertweck's mother, father, sister and brother were presented with Ukrainian and U.S. flags as part of a military honors ceremony.
鈥楬e came here for your people鈥
Leslie Hertweck told those gathered that her son had died in a 鈥渇ight for freedom.鈥
鈥淗e was taken too young and he died a true hero,鈥 she said through tears. 鈥淚鈥檓 a very proud mom of what he did, that he came here for your people, for the country of Ukraine, to fight for freedom. And that鈥檚 what Ethan stood for, was freedom.鈥
She described her son as 鈥渟tubborn, he was strong, he was serious. But he loved and had a soft heart.鈥
鈥淲e know that we will miss him. But we will see you in heaven, Ethan, as you鈥檙e with my mom and all those who鈥檝e gone before us,鈥 she said. 鈥淪lava Ukraini.鈥
Hertweck was initially classified as missing in action and his family and fellow servicemen worked for months to retrieve his remains, which were believed to be behind Russian lines after the territory near the city of Avdiivka was captured by Moscow鈥檚 forces.
Finally, in December 2024, his body was part of a swap between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. With the assistance of the RT Weatherman Foundation, a group that provides support and legal aid to families of soldiers killed in Ukraine, he was identified by his DNA.
His family plans to repatriate him to the United States and lay him to rest in his native California.
鈥楬e鈥檚 going home, like every Marine should鈥
Jay Andrus, 25, a U.S. Marine veteran who trained in Ukraine with Hertweck, said the period his friend was listed as missing was difficult for family and friends to bear.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good that we got his remains back because it kind of haunts you knowing that your friend is out there in the dirt and you don鈥檛 know where he is," Andrus said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 back and he鈥檚 going home, like every Marine should.鈥
He added that Hertweck, like so many foreign soldiers that have fought for Ukraine during the war, "genuinely, really wanted to help people.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear as day: a country is being invaded, innocent people are dying, women and children,鈥 Andrus said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just going to sit there with the training and the lifestyle that you鈥檙e used to, watching the news and do nothing about it? I understand why (Hertweck) came, that鈥檚 the reason why I came too.鈥
