Father of American Volunteer Killed in Ukraine Now Cooks for Civilians in Kharkiv

Edward Wilton spent most of his adult life working as a lawyer in Florida. Now he spends his days in a kitchen in Kharkiv, helping feed people in a city still living with war. He came to Ukraine after his son, who served in the International Legion, was killed in action.

Wilton retired in January 2026 and moved to Kharkiv permanently. He volunteers with the charitable organisation Pekelna Kuhnya, or Hell's Kitchen, alongside people from the United Kingdom, Poland, Japan, Sweden and other countries. Together they prepare more than 1,200 meals every day, and most of them are delivered to the city's hospitals.

"I returned to help Ukraine and to help out what I think is my country too," Wilton said. He added that he tries to be as useful as he can, and that he adores Kharkiv, loves Ukraine and its people, and now considers the city his home.

His attachment has family roots. Wilton has said that his mother always described herself as Ukrainian, Polish or Austrian, and that the uncertainty led him to research the family's history. He eventually learned that his great-grandfather came from Kosmach, a Hutsul village in the Prykarpattia region, and emigrated to the United States in 1912 or 1913. Wilton raised his son, Edward III, with an awareness of that heritage. The family kept some traditions from his mother's side, including the way they celebrated Christmas and Easter.

Edward III had always wanted to be a soldier but could not complete military training in the United States. He did spend several months training as an emergency medical technician. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he travelled to Ukraine and joined the International Legion, serving in Company Bravo under the alias "Hans." He took part in difficult combat operations and was awarded the Order of Courage.

His father said he trained with several kinds of weapons, studied tactics with his unit and was very good with a grenade launcher. He was among the youngest in the unit, and some of his comrades may have had more military experience. Wilton said his son never spoke of going home before the war ended. He had chances to return to the United States but declined, saying he had not yet earned that right and felt he should be doing more.

Edward III was killed in April 2023 by a shrapnel wound. He was 22. He and his comrades came under artillery fire while moving to positions in Luhansk Oblast.

Wilton recalled reading the Iliad with his son when the boy was young, including the passage in which Achilles must choose between a long, uneventful life and a short, heroic one. Even then, he said, his son told him he wanted a short, heroic life rather than a long, boring one. "That is exactly what happened," Wilton said in effect, describing how his son chose his own path.

A memorial plaque honouring the soldier has now been installed in Kosmach, the village his great-grandfather left more than a century ago. Wilton keeps the certificate his son received for his service. "My son said he didn't mind dying, but he wanted to be remembered," he said.