MAINE, USA — Maine native Jeffrey Jones died in combat July 31 as a foreign fighter for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Jeff died [and] sacrificed his life doing the things that he wanted to do. He accepted that," Jeffrey's father Howard Jones Jr. said.
According to Jones Jr., Jeffrey had traveled to Ukraine twice last year to help with humanitarian aid efforts and returned in April to serve with the American Ukrainian Foundation.
Jeffrey worked with the foundation for four weeks, according to its founder, before he enlisted as a foreign fighter.
"He felt like it was his calling to go and do what he could. We had discussions about him getting wounded or getting killed and he's like 'I'm prepared for that. It's a moral calling for me,'" James Creamer, a good friend of Jeff, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Tuesday.
Jones Jr. said the last message he received from Jeffrey, just hours before his death read:
"We were supposed to have a couple days rest, but another company is too afraid to go so we are heading back out tonight in their place. Will be another 3-5 days."
Jones Jr. said within the next 3.5 hours, he got a call from another American foreign fighter saying Jeffrey was killed. He said the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv contacted him within an hour of that phone call confirming Jeffrey's death from a mortar shell explosion.
"Perhaps as a result of his sacrifice and the other members of his group, other peoples' lives were saved," Jones Jr. said.
Jeffrey's ashes will arrive at the Bangor International Airport in early September, Jones Jr. said. He said he is hoping to arrange for family and friends to go to the airport to welcome him home.
"I would like Jeff to be honored for his sacrifice," Jones Jr. said.