Matthew Sampson served in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, in 2022, he volunteered to fight in Ukraine.
He would spend 635 consecutive days in combat operations, including fighting in Bakhmut.
Today, Sampson is back in the United States, but his involvement with Ukraine is far from over. Instead of carrying a rifle, he now takes what he witnessed on the battlefield to Capitol Hill.
Why does he keep returning to Ukraine? What are Ukrainian soldiers telling him now? And what does he want members of Congress to understand before they cast their votes?
Independence Avenue Media followed Sampson’s story on both sides of the Atlantic, from Kyiv to Washington, D.C., as he explained why, years after first going to Ukraine, he is still fighting for its cause.


