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Ukraine resident David Plaster said that he formerly served as a United States combat medic and had been rotated through various flashpoints over 20 times.
Since the outbreak of Russia’s aggression, he decided to instruct Ukrainian soldiers using his background as guidance.
“It’s the symbol of our organization for tactical medicine. The Archangel St. Michael,” Plaster said, pointing at an image of the saint. “It has a symbolic meaning for me and my organization. When I was on Maidan and I saw… The Revolution was starting up. With other people, I was taking refuge in St. Michael’s church.”
In the Donbas combat zone, Plaster said that the patron saint of Kyiv became his guardian angel. There, he said that he introduced himself as “Mykhailo” or “Michael.”
“I was asked to escort this strange American. He did not look like an American, he was dressed in ordinary camouflage, he looked just like a typical Ukrainian soldier. But he could not speak Ukrainian,” a war veteran Myroslav Borysenko said.
The war, however, teaches a range of lessons – from helping others to learning a language.
“I have some ancestors on my mother’s side from Western Ukraine. So, that’s the area. And it happened, basically, before World War II, during the time of the Soviet Union. As I understood they moved to Germany,” Plaster said.
“I saw David on Facebook, when they created ‘The Anomaly’ organization and launched the English course. I met him at the first lesson. He was dressed in vyshyvanka, jeans and sneakers. That was in the autumn of 2017,” war veteran Volodymyr Verkhotur said.
Verkhotur said that at first, their group consisted of 12 veteran students; and now has expanded to at least 40.
Yulia Mykytenko – who served in Donbas for two years – said the speaking club has helped her professionally.
She became the 1st female platoon leader in Ukraine.
“We are creating now the first platoon with women, with young ladies, who can enter the lyceum and start their military life,” Mykytenko said.
“If we’re still active in our service, although our uniform is different, then we’re still not alone,” Plaster said
“Slava Ukraini [Glory to Ukraine],” Plaster said.
