An army vet from Connecticut who has joined up with Ukraine’s military to fight the Russians has shared a viral video of himself standing in front of bombed Kremlin tanks.
James Vasquez, 47, publicly announced its plan Leaving his family and business in Norwalk on 24 February – the day Russia invaded its eastern neighbor.
Vasquez’s wife, Tina Vasquez, told The Post about her husband’s heroism on Friday, “It’s in his DNA — it’s what he loves to do.”
“He did the same thing after 9/11, ran for help. That’s all – he’s my hero,” she said.
The former US Army staff sergeant finally made it to Ukraine on March 15 – sharing his experiences via a newly created Twitter account, describing how he “pulled out” several Russian tanks as well as Russian soldiers. Helped to kill and capture.
“Welcome to America!” someone screams a video of him — more than 2 million views since posted Thursday — as Vasquez stands in front of a smoking Russian tank.
“I don’t know if you guys know what it was that was behind me,” said Vasquez, posing with one of his comrades, “but that’s a Russian tank. The first tank that was taken out.”
“So far we have pulled out seven Russian tanks after a long shelling and have taken control of the area,” he said. Update early Friday,
“Right now we’re just going to sweep around and see what we have left. Some stragglers — take them out and call it a day,” said once a US Army sergeant who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan “It’s been a long time, baby.”
In another clip he was seen jubilantly counting the four blazing armored vehicles: “Yeah, dude… I Have a good day!”
It’s not just tanks that have been taken out by Vasquez and his allies.
The American bragged in a tweet on Tuesday, “Caught 159 Russians today!,
In another post, he wrote, “The Russians refuse to take their dead. Their fallen soldiers are left to be eaten by stray dogs,” adding that this was evidence that the invaders “s -t pieces”.
“Americans will never leave a man or a corpse behind,” he tweeted.
Vasquez also showed off his weapons on social media, displaying grenades and a machine gun.
“I had a really green weapon,” he captioned a photo of an automatic rifle on Wednesday, so I decided take this bad boy from a Russian. ,
Vasquez has also seen war damage, he said Thursday, adding that a member of his team was killed and two others were wounded.six straight hours,
While Vasquez did not specify where he was in Ukraine, he had previously said he was woken up by large explosions in the western city of Lviv.
But instead of feeling scared, Vasquez insisted last week that “I feel like I’m on one”. terrible very dangerous holiday,
Vasquez says he has been well received by Ukrainian soldiers, who “it’s awesome that an American soldier is here to fight with him” at checkpoints initially “shocked to see an American passport”. He says he has fought alongside British and Canadian citizens, but has not come across any other Americans on the front lines.
“I don’t want the Russian propaganda machine saying the Americans have a battalion,” Vasquez insisted In a tweet from early Friday. ,[I’m] Here alone in full voluntary capacity of my own free will. ,
In his most recent post on Friday, Vasquez shared photos of himself and a British soldier training the Ukrainian military on their “down time”.
“They are eager and fast learners.” He said about Ukrainians, “It’s really an honor to fight alongside these good men.
“I definitely did the right thing,” he said of his decision to fly to the front line.
His wife of seven years, Tina Vasquez, told The Post that when her husband first asked if he felt like leaving, she replied, “Go ahead — just make sure you come home.
“Did I want it to go? No, but I told him, ‘Do what you have to do,'” he recalled.
“He wants to be a part of it and has a lot to offer Ukraine’s soldiers,” she said of her husband, who toured Iraq and Afghanistan after joining the US military at the age of 18. Were.
Tina said she was “overwhelmed” by the support she received at Norwalk, with many even calling her a hero for allowing travel, which her husband is prepared to extend until at least May, if necessary.
Still, “everyone is worried,” she said. “It’s been a struggle, worrying all the time. He tries to touch base when he can, but sometimes I don’t hear from him for a few days, which obviously heightens my concerns.
“But I just have to remind myself that she’s on the front line and is really busy.”
Vasquez each has two adult sons from previous relationships – at least one younger than four. Very Support, said Tina.
“My eldest son is an Army National Reservist, so he gets it. He’s probably jealous that he can’t be there, but I’m glad he isn’t – one from the family is enough!” he said.
