A South Florida business owner and Marine veteran is using his military training to assist small groups of Ukrainian citizens as the Russian invasion wages on.
Over the summer, Lance Zaal -- the man behind tours Miami Haunts and Fort Lauderdale Ghosts -- returned from his fourth trip to the Ukraine war zone. Each time, the veteran and entrepreneur has brought supplies for the Ukrainian people, as well helping to train them, citing a need for defensive, communications and emergency medical equipment.
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"This country was just thrown into a war that they didn't expect, and they didn't have enough people. They didn't have enough trainers. They didn't have enough supplies," Zaal said. "But the war keeps evolving and changing. Expectations change, and the way the war's fought has changed by both sides, and they adapt to each other."
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During his senior year of high school, Zaal enlisted in the Marine Corps, after witnessing the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He chose to serve in the infantry, and would go on to complete three deployments. Although he was no longer in the military, Zaal told NBC6 that, upon seeing the suffering in Ukraine, he felt compelled to help.
"There's a lot of heartbreak, a lot of pain, a lot of horror that they've been subjected to," he said. "Unless you've been through it, it's hard for us, as Americans, to comprehend what they're going through."
In 2012, Zaal graduated from business school with a Ukrainian man who, at the time of the Russian invasion, was living in Kyiv with his wife and children. Zaal said that compounded his drive to assist.
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"I came up with the training plan on my way over, and then every night, I would refine that before training them for the next few days. So, I kind of came up with the training plan really quickly, but it was very effective, and they absolutely needed that because they were basically given a rifle, some ammunition. They were told how to disassemble their rifle; basically, how to shoot it. But they weren't taught how to be proficient with it," Zaal said. "They didn't know how to do basic combat first aid."
Among the supplies Zaal has delivered to Ukraine are binoculars, thermal and night vision equipment, range finders, survival blankets and generators.
"They know what future is in store for them, and for their kids and their family, and that's a future that they don't want to live in," Zaal said of those who have volunteered in the war efforts. "There's a big sense that there's just no justice. The Ukrainians are mad. They're angry, and the longer the war goes on, the angrier they get. Of course, they're sad. Most Ukrainians know somebody that's been killed or wounded in the war."
