US Marine Veteran Ethan Hertweck’s Final Mission in Ukraine: Died Saving a Fellow Soldier from the Russian Fire

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, 45,100 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The president typically shares these figures only once a year, during his annual press conference. 

But among the dead are not only Ukrainians. At least 90 American families have lost their loved ones because of Russia’s brutal war, The New York Times recently posted. These were warriors who gave their lives defending democracy and freedom, even in a country to which they had no ties. They went to fight for what is right without being officially deployed by their government, but with a big heart to help and to stand up against tyranny and protect the innocents. Ethan Hertweck is one of them.

A warrior’s heart in California

Ethan was born on July 17, 2002, in Los Angeles, California. He was the first son of John and Leslie Hertweck.

“He made me a mom,” says Leslie every time recollecting that moment. The day after Ethan was born, he lifted his head off his mom's shoulder, which was a bit strange to a newborn, but it made Leslie understand, “No matter what he faced, Ethan would not stop until he could make it all the way up.”

Growing up as an elder for his brother, Gabriel, and sister, Hannah, Ethan always said he felt he should have been born during his great-grandfather's generation, because he had such a strong desire to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves and to stand up to tyranny. Ethan joined the Marines, but his blood disorder caused him to be honorably discharged before his Marine Corps career could even start. His dream of becoming a Scout Sniper and Marine Raider ended.

“He didn't want your typical nine-to-five job,” says Ethan’s dad, John. “I would suggest him going to college or so, but he was definitely looking for something that had purpose in it. He wanted his life to have a definite purpose, and he wanted to help people. He had a military mind.”

The road to Ukraine

In February 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion started, 19-year-old USMC Veteran Ethan Hertweck planned his first trip to Ukraine to see how he could help. He spent a few weeks helping civilians at the Ukraine-Polish border. After returning to the US, he spent a year considering going back to the place he needed to be. 

“He wasn't happy here,” says Leslie. “He wanted to be somewhere helping people. I knew he was going to a war zone. It was a little scary, but I was actually a little excited for him because he was doing something that he wanted to do, what he felt called to do for so long, and to fight and to be a warrior.”

Ethan went back to Ukraine, got his Combat Medical License in Poland, and ended up in Ukraine training civilians in life-saving skills and combat skills at the Trident Defense Initiative. Within months, he signed a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and became a medic with the 131st Special Reconnaissance Battalion, serving on a team known as “Vidmak.” He later transferred to the Chosen Company of the 59th Brigade — a volunteer formation made up largely of foreign fighters, including American veterans, former Marines, and soldiers. In both units, Ethan served as the team’s medic.

“Why be a chef in a room full of kids who are hungry if you’re not going to cook? Go cook.” said Roja, a Marine veteran who served alongside him in the 59th Brigade. That, he explained, was the logic that brought them both to Ukraine: if others needed help, they felt obliged to give it.

As Marines, Roja and Ethan bonded quickly. Roja recalled a small, almost absurd moment that had stayed with him. “We’d be in the chow hall,” he said. “Ethan would put on his kit, his armor, take his weapon, and start mock-fighting in the corner before formation or something. You’d just be the only one there and you'd see him doing it, all by himself. We gave each other shit for it, of course—but it's a funny memory I have of him.”

Ethan’s final mission

Ethan planned to go home for Christmas—one of his favorite holidays—on December 19, 2023. Every Christmas Eve, Ethan had a tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree on the holiday morning. It started when he was little and continued as his younger siblings, Gabriel and Hannah, joined him. Even their dog, Bella, who’d been with the family since Ethan was six, would curl up beside them. His mother, Leslie, remembers waking up on Christmas mornings to find her children asleep beneath the glowing lights—a small, perfect moment of safety and togetherness. “I miss that,” she says quietly. “It meant they were safe in our home. That’s what I hold on to now.”

On December 4, 2023, Ethan was on what was supposed to be his final mission before returning home. He and two of his teammates were covering their unit’s bunkers when Russian forces began to overrun the area in Pervomaiske, the Donetsk region. Because Ethan spoke the most Ukrainian, he was able to communicate over the radio while simultaneously providing covering fire.

When his brother-in-arms was hit, Ethan ran out to provide aid, trying to save his life and pull him to cover. He was struck by Russian fire, but still managed to reach the bunker with his wounded comrade and continued to render aid. An hour later, Ethan passed away, and shortly after, his brother-in-arms did as well.

After the fighting, the territory was taken over by Russian forces. Hertweck’s family received a message stating that Ethan was “missing in action, presumed dead.” His unit had passed along the information, but because his body had not yet been recovered, both the Ukrainian and US governments listed him as missing. 

Then, a woman from the Embassy called. “When I screamed… she wasn’t expecting that,” Leslie says, remembering the moment everything changed.

“I knew that I needed to take that call,” says John. “She had told me what I… (ed.– his voice breaking) something that I had hoped I would never have to hear. That Ethan had been killed.”

“They told us he wasn’t in pain,” Leslie says. “He was calm, doing what he always did—helping others until the very end.”

Celebration of Life

Without Ethan’s body, his parents still chose to say their goodbyes. The Hertweck family held a celebration of his life in Springfield, Missouri—a day that happened to fall on Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24, 2024. While Ukrainians marked the date with reminders of hard-won freedom and the lives sacrificed for it, the Hertwecks confronted their own loss.

We traveled to Missouri to meet the family, close friends, and relatives who had gathered to honor Ethan. During the ceremony, loved ones shared stories, laughed through tears, and remembered the young man who died at just 21. The pastor of their local church called the Celebration of Life an important first step toward finding closure, although everyone knew that true peace would take much longer to come.

John told us how much he still missed his son. His voice trembled as he tried to describe the loss. “He was fulfilling his call, and he found it at such a young age. Which is what some people spend their whole life doing. I'm so proud of that …I understand why he was in a place where he felt like he belonged,” John paused, fighting back tears. “But there's always going to be that part of me that wants him back.”

Bringing Ethan home

Six months later—after 14 months of uncertainty—the message they had been waiting for finally arrived: Ethan’s body had been recovered from Russian-occupied territory. The long journey to Ukraine began.

Throughout the process, the family relied on the RT Weatherman Foundation, which supports families of foreign military volunteers who are killed or missing in action. The foundation has handled everything—from travel to paperwork.

“They booked our train tickets in Ukraine when I couldn’t understand the website,” says Leslie. “Got all the paperwork translated, guided us through every form.” 

The foundation’s bilingual team helped with legal documents, compensation procedures, and arranging the bank accounts required once a soldier is declared KIA. “If it wasn’t for them,” she says, “we would have no idea what to do. There’s just so much red tape.”

In February 2025, we met the Hertwecks again—this time at Kyiv’s Maidan Square. They had come to take Ethan home. 

Kyiv held a ceremony in his honor. There, Leslie spoke through tears. “He died a true hero. I’m a very proud mom of what he did. He came here for your people—to the country of Ukraine—to fight for freedom. That’s what Ethan stood for. He didn’t care about politics or anything else. He came here for the people. He told us that. He wanted to help save lives and make sure others could fight for themselves. That was Ethan’s heart. He was stubborn, strong, serious—but he loved deeply and had such a soft heart.”

Later, John reflected on the years they should have had. “I wanted to spend many, many years doing ‘guy things’ that I had looked forward to for so long—like working on the cars and the motorcycles and talking about relationships, guiding him through dating—just the things that occur in your everyday life that I didn't get forward to doing as he was growing up and becoming a man. God had a different role for him at a young age, and I understood that, but I guess the selfish part of me kind of wanted him to myself more. To be that friend to him and just spend many more years down the line with him. Not really wanting to face the reality of what he was doing. I knew that what happened to him was always a possibility, but I never believed that it would put us in this place. I love and respect him for doing what he did, and I'll always have that memory of him.”