CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — A former U.S. Marine from Cleveland Heights was killed while defending evacuees in Ukraine last month, according to several published reports.
Cooper "Harris" Andrews was killed on April 19 while protecting "The Road of Life" humanitarian corridor in Bakhmut. His death was first reported on April 30 by journalist Jake Hanrahan, with additional published reports coming on Monday.
Multiple reports state that Andrews was killed in action by mortar fire alongside fellow members of the International Resistance Committee. They were apparently ambushed while protecting evacuees.
A State Department spokesperson told 3News: "We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance. Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add."
According to a childhood friend, Graham Ball, 26-year-old Andrews had been serving in Ukraine since November, and recently spent time in Bakhmut, where he joined a unit called the Resistance Committee.
Ball said he and Andrews had been friends since they were eight years old, when they met as next door neighbors living in Cleveland Heights. Ball said they both attended Roxboro Middle School and Heights High School, participating in choir and musicals.
"When we were kids, he would organize me and the other neighborhood kids into little military units, he was always kind of that marshal mindset," Ball said.
From a young age, it seems Andrews' desire to serve and fight for what he believed in was apparent.
"I remember in middle school, he was telling everybody about Putin's illegal elections, and how terrible what Putin was doing in Russia was," Ball said. "So it's not like this was a passing fancy for Cooper, this is something that he's, I feel like, kind of been training his whole life to do."
Ball said Andrews was a big political influence on him, opening his eyes to a lot of the injustices in the world. Ball said Andrews was engaged in the community, working to fight childhood hunger on Cleveland's westside, and organizing with the Rhizome House in Cleveland Heights.
Andrews fought fires out west and served as a U.S. Marine. According to Ball, when the war broke out in Ukraine, he felt called to help.
"I think it's also important that Cooper went explicitly as an anti-fascist militiaman. He went to fight the authoritarian regime that Putin was trying to put forward in the Ukraine," Ball said.
Ball said before Andrews left for Ukraine, he was in his apartment laying out his military supplies.
"I was looking forward to getting a beer with him when he came back," Ball said. "It's hard to believe that he's not."
About a month and a half before his death, Andrews sent Ball a message about why he felt it important to go to Ukraine. It said in part, "In our hands there is a world to win and a fight which requires great sacrifice. For us and everybody else who faces the shadow of fascist aggression, there is only victory or death. Love and struggle."
Another friend of Andrews' who declined an interview told 3News that she hopes those who see Andrews' story "do something kind and brave in his memory."
A GoFundMe has been started by Andrews' mother, Willow, in order to raise money for The Cooper Andrews Memorial Fund. According to the GoFundMe, the fund will "support the families of anti-fascist foreign fighters in Ukraine, feed hungry children in the city of Cleveland, and fund the community spaces in Cleveland that Cooper was dedicated to creating. This isn't about starting something new, it's about continuing the good works that Cooper began."
In a statement to 3News, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District said: "The CH-UH City School District is deeply saddened to learn of the death of former student Cooper Andrews. This tragedy speaks to the heartbreak and devastation caused by war. We send our sincerest condolences to Cooper's family and loved ones."
"Cooper was a dear friend to many of us at the RZH and he was a comrade to all of us. Cooper helped to found our project. When it was only a vague idea he saw its need and potential clearly. When we were fickle and on the verge of quitting, he kept us on the hook. When he was busy training and becoming the soldier we are honoring, he set aside funds that would go on to pay the costs of opening our brick and mortar location. The anarchist movement in Cleveland would be nothing without him, and his absence is painful. He is our hero, and his memory is an example of courage, self-sacrifice, and the principles of autonomy, solidarity and internationalism. We love you Cooper," Cleveland Heights-based The Rhizome House wrote on its social media platforms.
The Kyiv Post reports that since February 24, more than 100 foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine have been killed in combat.