The cold February air hung heavy over Kyiv’s Independence Square as Leslie and John Hertweck stood before their son’s flag-draped coffin, mourning the loss of Ethan Hertweck, a 21-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran and combat medic.
Ethan had sacrificed his life on the battlefield, defending Ukraine against Russian invaders. Now, as his parents wept over his remains, they faced another heartbreak—the stunning betrayal by their own president, Donald Trump.
Ethan’s story is one of honor and courage. He had been a young man unwilling to stand idly by while innocent Ukrainians suffered.
First, he helped refugees at the Polish border; then, driven by an unshakable sense of duty, he earned his combat medic license and returned to the front lines. He died in December 2023, struck by Russian forces while trying to save a wounded comrade near Avdiivka. For 14 agonizing months, his mother fought to bring his body home.
Yet, as Leslie Hertweck grieved for her son, she found herself confronting a different kind of loss—the betrayal of American values.
Just weeks before her arrival in Kyiv, President Donald Trump abandoned Ukraine, publicly cozying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
He dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “dictator,” absurdly blaming Ukraine for a war that Russia started. To make matters worse, Trump’s administration had been holding talks directly with Moscow, shutting out both Ukraine and its European allies.
“I don’t understand how he could make it sound like Putin is not a dictator and that Zelenskiy is,” Leslie said, still in shock. Like millions of other Americans, she had once supported Trump. Now, she felt sickened. “We were upset, definitely.”
Trump’s rhetoric is more than an embarrassment—it’s a dangerous shift in U.S. foreign policy that emboldens Russia’s brutal war machine.
Under his leadership, military aid to Ukraine has stalled, leaving soldiers like Ethan’s brothers-in-arms desperate for supplies. Morale among Ukrainian defenders has plummeted, and America’s NATO allies now fear they can’t rely on the US if they are next in line for Russian aggression.
For those on the ground in Ukraine, the war is not some distant political debate—it is a relentless nightmare.
Leslie recalled how her hotel shook from Russian missile strikes during her stay in Kyiv. The blasts were a grim reminder of the daily terror Ukrainians face.
“That made it really real to me,” she said. “Now, you can’t talk to anyone who has not lost at least one person—whether it’s a family member or a close friend.”
Ethan’s funeral was not just a personal farewell—it was a symbol of unwavering solidarity between Americans and Ukrainians who still believe in freedom.
A solemn crowd of foreign fighters, Ukrainian soldiers, and civilians gathered to honor the young man who had left his home thousands of miles away to defend theirs. His coffin was draped in the flags of both nations, a testament to the brotherhood he embodied.
“He always seemed so mature to me,” said Kateryna Poniaieva, a Ukrainian friend who worked alongside him. “And when I found out his age, I understood—he is still a kid who came to defend my child, my home, my country.”
Ethan’s body will soon return to the U.S. for burial in California’s Garden of Valor. But his legacy will remain in Ukraine, in the blood-soaked soil where he fought for justice. His family, devastated by their loss, now has one message for Americans back home: wake up.
Leslie has spent months trying to get fellow Americans to understand the true stakes of the war. But with Trump’s growing allegiance to Putin, she fears that her son’s sacrifice—along with thousands of others—will be in vain.
For Ethan, the choice was clear: if he didn’t stand for Ukraine’s freedom, who would? Now, the question is turned back on America. Will the country honor the courage of heroes like Ethan? Or will it surrender to the lies and betrayals of a leader who has turned his back on the very ideals his people have died defending?
The world is watching. And so is the grieving mother of a fallen American son.