Michael Ferkol, who once served as a supply specialist with engineer battalions in the U.S. Army, had been in Rome studying archaeology when he heard the Ukrainian president's appeal for foreign fighters.
Within days, Ferkol said, he presented himself at a military recruiting office in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, hoping to be taken on as a front-line paramedic.
"I told them I wanted to triage patients," said the 29-year-old, who has no combat experience. "There was a Finnish guy there too, and he was like, 'I just want to kill Russians.'"