Sadly, America lost one of its own to Russian artillery fire this week, marking the ninth loss of its kind as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Washington Examiner, retired Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Maimer, 45, who served in the Army's prestigious Special Forces group, was reportedly killed as a result of Russian artillery rounds striking a building he was in.
Maimer was one of several American volunteers who traveled to the war front to help train Ukrainian volunteers to fight to defend their country.
The saddening news was confirmed by retired Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn, founder of the nonprofit organization AFGfree -- the outfit with which Maimer was working in the region.
Blackburn told a local media outlet that Maimer, who was training volunteers, was caught "behind enemy lines" in the attack.
"From what I understand, he was providing them with firsthand training in that area so that they can continue to do the fight, and he got caught behind enemy lines," Blackburn told the Idaho Statesman. "It’s just a crazy, crazy time right now. And then having Nick die over there, it’s just brutal."
Maimer had served 20 years in the Army before retiring.
The way Maimer's death was first discovered was disturbing, as his body was reportedly used in a Russian propaganda video.
The Examiner noted:
The leader of the Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed to show the body of an American in a video posted on the Wagner Group's Telegram on Tuesday. Prigozhin was shown inspecting a body and what he claimed were identification cards.
Prigozhin also claimed in the video that his group would turn the body over to the United States, which has prompted his family to fight to bring him home for a proper burial and to pay their respects to their fallen loved one.
"We’re just trying to get him home for proper burial,” Paul Maimer added.
“I think he’s deserving to be put to rest in a veterans cemetery. He might not have been fighting for our country, but he was fighting for the right reasons.”
🕯️Nicholas Dwain Maimer, a veteran of the United States Army Special Forces, has died while volunteering in Ukraine.
Maimer had volunteered to train Ukrainian forces against Russia's invasion.
He was 45-years-old.
1. “He went over there as a humanitarian trying to do good… pic.twitter.com/9N2dfTjWwj
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) May 17, 2023
Maimer had previously met with Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) during a trip to Ukraine to learn more about what was happening on the front lines. May he Rest In Peace.
