A Marine veteran from Lake Forest, California, died June 27 in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, after a Russian missile hit a restaurant he was visiting, according to his father.
Ian Frank Tortorici, 32, has been fighting for Ukraine since traveling there 15 months ago after the Russian invasion in February 2022.
He was on leave from the front lines when the attack occurred, according to his father and fellow veteran, Jon Frank.
According to a June 30 Facebook post by his father, Mr. Tortorici joined the International Legion unit of the Territorial Defense Forces for Ukraine as a contracted member of the Ukrainian army.
“He experienced a lifetime of death and horrors but chose to stay,” Mr. Frank wrote in the post. “He loved his team, his girlfriend, and Ukraine.”
Mr. Tortorici met his Ukrainian girlfriend while backpacking across Europe. He fell in love with her and her home country, Mr. Frank told the Orange County Register.
Mr. Frank additionally wrote on Facebook that his son “gave up a [lucrative] and comfortable life to prevent World War III.”
He said his son told him in March 2022 he traveled to Ukraine to help and wouldn’t come home until the war was over.
“He was the most selfless, bravest, kindest, unassuming, and off-center person on the planet and hated for anyone to know it,” Mr. Frank wrote. “I love my son more than life itself.”
Mr. Tortorici was a U.S. Marine veteran, park service ranger, and an agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
He is one of many Americans to join the fight in Ukraine against Russia, and among several who have died because of it, including former Sgt. Cooper “Harris” Andrews of Cleveland, Ohio; retired Marine Cpt. Grady Kurpasi of New York City, New York; Marine veteran Pete Reed of Bordentown, New Jersey; and Marine veteran Willy Joseph Cancel of Orange County, New York.
