Wyoming Man Tells His Wild Story Of Helping In Ukraine
Just a couple weeks after the war began in Ukraine, retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Robert "Scott" McAdams boarded a flight to Ukraine to begin what would turn into 4 months of constant travel and thousands of miles to help Ukrainians in need.
Scott has always been with the desire to help. He says his mother recently told him:
when I was 6 years old, I begged my parents to pick up a man that was carrying his groceries in a cart and walking. It wasn't much, but we gave the man and his groceries a ride across town
Scott's chosen career path was one of continuing his desire to help. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1994 and spent the next 24 years 8 months 9 days serving the country and even in his latter days of services, helping young men and women looking to do the same as a recruiter.
Wyoming has a special connection to Ukraine. Host Orphans Worldwide (H.O.W.) is based out of Gillette, Wyoming and has a strong presence in particularly the Casper area. Many children have been hosted and some even adopted from orphanages in Ukraine.
This particular March day, Scott was getting on a plane, not to adopt or bring a child home for the summer, but to put his life on the line to cross into the war torn country to help as many Ukrainian families as absolutely possible.
During his years in with the Army he was on multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for our country. Scott said:
After my first deployment to Iraq, I knew it was for me. I guess you could say this line of work was just in my blood.
Scott along with Rob Pfeil, who's wife founded how H.O.W., arrived and hit the ground running...literally. Within just a couple days after arriving, Scott was driving a recently purchased Ford Galaxy headed into Ukraine to collect an 83 year old woman and her daughter to bring to safety.
When Scott reflects on the first mission and says:
the suffering they had to go through prior to my arrival was horrible. When I was able to reunite them with their family in Poland, it was PRICELESS. Tears of joy and happiness. The grandmother grabbed my hand and wouldn't let me go. As a matter of fact, she was always coming up grabbing my hand...to show how thankful she was.
Over the next 4 months, he was on the road 5 to 6 days every week either picking up refugees or running supplies to orphanages and communities in need all over Ukraine.
After two vehicles, thousands of miles and hundreds of Ukrainians helped, Scott felt it was time for break and returned back to Wyoming to take a breather. He says that he'd like to be able to help as much and often as possible to help.
Other than help from H.O.W., Scott was funded by the mission 'Live Free Fight Tyranny', an organization enabling victims of human trafficking and tyranny to leave a legacy of freedom for the next generation. To help, you can contact Live Free Fight Tyranny and donate via Paypal.