the day and tie burlap to create camo nets they need to drag over the tanks.” “Some of the equipment they make is low because we’ve become really good at putting tourniquets on, packing wounds, stopping the bleed- ing, and being able to give these guys a chance to get to higher levels of care.” Even more, Dean says that the soldiers lacked the equipment they needed to provide basic combat care, or for the battle in general. “They didn’t even have a basic first aid kit, much less a tourniquet.” “They’ve been issued a rifle and they might have two or three magazines for it,” he said. “Our basic soldiers over here have more than some of the elites in the Ukrainian army.” “The absolute shortage of equipment is sad and terrifying at the same time.” But, even without basic supplies, Dean says the fight continues. And, it extends from the top to the very bottom in the towns of Ukraine. “The babushkas, the grandmas in the villages who can sew, have come together and they are making soldiers vests to carry equipment in,” he says. “Everybody, the whole towns, are coming together and hand-making equipment. In the town squares, they’ll hang these giant nets and people will come and sit for hours through “They were some of the best classes I’ve taught, because not one eye was darting around or looking at their cell phone,” he recalls. “They are there. They know that within a week or two they could be applying this.” “The NGO I was with gave each soldier we taught an individual first aid kit like we issue here in the U.S. with the tourniquet and wound-packing gear. Their only first aid kit was what we gave them.” Even despite the lack of training, dwindling resources, and little or no equipment, Dean says what he witnessed in the Ukraine was inspiring. And, he got to see it up close and personal. “There is no lack of will to fight from these guys,” he says. “They are ready to go with what they have.” “Most of these people that we were teaching were on standby, which means 42 AUGUST 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM amazing. It looks better than what we buy here.” “It’s a community coming together to help ward off this invasion from the Russians.” Dean says that the soldiers they taught were absolutely grateful for the training that his team was able to provide. “They were some of the best classes I’ve taught, because not one eye was dart- ing around or looking at their cell phone,” he recalls. “They are there. They know that within a week or two they could be applying this.” they have a date they are leaving to go to the battlefront.” “You start getting to know them. They are in their hometowns where they invite you home to eat with their families. You are interacting with the families as they are packing up to send their wives and children to Poland to get out of the Ukraine until this is all over with.” “These people are fighting for their very existence. You’re getting to interact with them and their families and their children. Our translators were with us every day and each of them were married with young children that they had sent off to live with relatives. One of them, her husband had just volunteered and we trained him medical to send him to the front.” “It became a lot more personal than most other places I have been.” For Dean, it’s easy to empathize with the struggles of the Ukrainian families he saw torn apart by the war on their country. When he was there, he was sep- arated again from his nine-year-old son, Ethan, at home. “The taking off gets a little more difficult each time, especially now that he’s getting older because he can tell me how he feels,” Dean says of his son. “I try to sit down and explain to him that there are bad people in the world and people need help and that’s what I feel called to do.”
