American volunteer killed in Syria

[robert99]

American YPG volunteer killed in Manbij operation
American YPG volunteer killed in Manbij operation
The Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) have confirmed the death of an American volunteer, Levi Jonathan Shirley, fighting in Rojava, northern Syria under the name Agir Şervan. He was killed in the operation to liberate Manbij from the Islamic State.

In a video from the YPG, Shirley introduces himself as Agir, “means fire,” he describes why he volunteered with the Kurdish force.

“I came here to Rojava to stop Da’esh, ISIS as it’s known more commonly in America. They’re my definition of pure evil. I don’t think good people in society can stick other people inside of a cage and set them on fire. So I came here to stop that.”

Shirley, a former US marine born in Nevada, first joined the YPG in February 2015 and participated in an operation to retake the Kezwane Mountains, west of Hasaka, before returning home, the YPG reported.

Shirley was killed on July 14.

Many foreigners have joined the Kurdish forces in Rojava and northern Syria fighting the Islamic State and several have been killed. A Portuguese fighter, Mario Nunes, was killed last month in the same offensive to retake Manbij.
(An American citizen - and ex-Marine - fighting for a foreign State. Why was n't he arrested when he flew home?)

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/11082016
Jordan MacTaggart, an American volunteer fighting with the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), was killed in Manbij, northern Syria on August 3. His father, while mourning the death of his son, does not regret MacTaggart’s decision to join the fight and admires his son’s bravery.

 

[robert99]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...-who-died-fighting-ISIS-return-to-the-US.html
Three young men who never joined the US military but died fighting ISIS in Syria will return home Friday to military-style honors as their families and a congressman gather to greet them.

The caskets of Levi Shirley, 24, Jordan MacTaggart, 22, and William Savage, 27, arrived on Wednesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after a complicated journey without ceremony.

Their families will each be presented with a flag flown over the US Capitol, said US Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Denver-area Democrat who helped coordinate the transfer of the bodies.

“Though they did not fight as members of our armed forces, they are Americans and as Americans we have a responsibility to bring these young men home and to give the families relief and closure,” Perlmutter said in a statement.

The men died separately in combat after joining the People’s Protection Units — the main Kurdish guerrilla group battling ISIS in Syria.

The remains of Keith Broomfield of Massachusetts, believed to be the first American to die alongside Kurds fighting ISIS, were returned to the US through Turkey last year.

(These men should have been charged with fighting for a foreign military ... )