Why this started…

I have been to Ukraine and grew to enjoy the people and the culture. It is not my homeland of the United States, but it is the next nation I feel most comfortable in. I have worked there, visited there, and I met my Fiancee Olia there. As Russia began building up on the border I was like many who did not believe initially Russia would invade, however as the weeks dragged on my disillusionment evaporated. After saying goodnight to Olia on the phone and I was scrolling Twitter I saw the first posts come in of explosions in Kyiv….my heart sank and as more posts rolled in I began to frantically calling Olia back to wake her up.

Olia was in Lviv at the time and when she answered I in quick order told her was going on. The next 40 hours are a blur to me; a mix of scrolling social media and the web to learn what I could to keep Olia updated, minimal sleep and food, and talking to Olia as she made sure her family was safe and working on securing her own safety. When Olia was finally safe in Poland she was very saddened and wanted to help Ukraine. It was at that moment I knew I had to do something.

Operation Blue Dawn was not an idea of mine, that credit goes to Olia. However, I did come up with the name which is a play on the title of the movie “Red Dawn”. I wanted the title of this effort to stand on its own. I wanted people to understand that this was a specific effort with one clear objective; supply Ukrianians fighting the Russian’s with items that I know work; Combat Action Tourniquet (CAT) and Combat Gauze. The Army drills into your brain that if you remember nothing else from CLS (Combat Life-Saver) remember to put a damn tourniquet on the injured limb and save a life.

I want to provide the Ukrainians fighting, both civilian and military, the same chance.

~Andrew~