Despite Washington's waning support for Kyiv, some US volunteers fighting in Ukraine are not giving up. They're part of the 20,000 foreign soldiers who, according to Kyiv, have joined Ukraine's ranks, and hope their sacrifices haven't been "for nothing."
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00:00For American fighters like Zach, the idea that his president might withdraw help from Ukraine is tough to take in.
00:09Most of my family, you know, coming from a conservative state, they all support Trump.
00:14But for me, it's a different issue.
00:18Like, I think what he's doing in a lot of ways is really good, but at the same time,
00:23avoiding this war is something that you're pushing something down the road
00:28that's going to be even worse when you do have to deal with it.
00:33He came to Ukraine to fight, giving up his job at home in Texas where he worked as an airplane technician.
00:41He was looking for a fresh start and found a purpose, which now feels under threat.
00:48America was a big part of supporting him through this war.
00:52Now that we've lost the support, I feel, I even called my embassy.
00:58Hey, am I doing, you know, something okay? Is this okay to continue fighting?
01:04Or do I need to leave? What's going on here?
01:08And the people at the embassy themselves, they said, we honestly don't know.
01:14Zach is a commander now, in charge of an infantry unit.
01:20Today, he is checking in on his guys.
01:23They were attacked by Russian drones.
01:26One man was killed, three wounded.
01:30Canadian fighter Moose was most badly hurt.
01:34After the attack, he crawled three kilometers in the dark to reach his unit.
01:40How are you doing mentally, bubba?
01:42I'm okay.
01:43Me? Better?
01:44Yeah, I'd like to call home, but...
01:48Let's see what we can do.
01:50I went and saw Vivi and all the other guys.
01:53Everybody's doing pretty good.
01:55You're the only one we've got to worry about right now.
01:58Moose can't feel his toes.
02:00He's worried the doctors might not be able to save his leg.
02:09His war is likely over.
02:12Yeah.
02:15Concern is growing in Ukraine that Trump may force a peace deal
02:19ceding territory to Russia.
02:21Zach fears this could leave a generation of veterans
02:24feeling their sacrifice was in vain.
02:27People are tired of seeing their buddies die, get maimed.
02:33They want an end to the war, but to see all this sacrifice
02:37just washed away and for nothing.
02:42We've all seen the ends of that, and that was in Vietnam, in America.
02:47We saw what happens to veterans when their war was for nothing.
02:51They become heavy into alcohol.
02:56It'll dismantle the society itself.
03:00Time to head back to their base in the east of Kharkiv region.
03:04A quick debrief with another American from his unit.
03:08He too spent some time recovering from an injury.
03:11If my commander tells me, hey, I need you to go back out,
03:15my head is cleared, I'm ready to go.
03:18It's just a strong-minded mentality.
03:22Psychologically, I'm good.
03:27Many dread going back, but some say they're made for this.
03:32When you go to the front line, all your worries, concerns,
03:37all your problems, they all go away.
03:39The only thing you got to worry about is staying alive.
03:41I'm like, huh, it's about 300 meters.
03:45As debates over the war continue back home,
03:49these fighters remain on the front lines.
03:53Believing their fight is far from over.