U.S. Marine Jim Palmer and his Ukrainian fiancé Victoria. Photo: Courtesy of Jim Palmer
TRURO, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Jim Palmer rubs away another sleepless night from his eyes as he takes a seat next to me on the couch for the interview. He is clearly stressed. His fiancé, Victoria, is in an undisclosed village in Ukraine, making food for the soldiers by day and sleeping in a bomb shelter with her family by night.
“She’s gettin’ shelled,” Jim says wearily.
And so this long-retired U.S. Marine is suddenly on a new and potentially dangerous mission: “I’m just gonna try and get to her and see if I can’t help her get to the border [of Poland] with her family.”
Some of the black-out gear he ordered online has arrived; he’s waiting on others: body armor, boots, and packs. “Can’t bring any weapons in,” he says.
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Jim is in love. He and Victoria got engaged right before the pandemic. She’s Ukrainian, and her plans to come to America were scuttled by COVID-19. And now, the war has only made her journey more difficult.
The two planned to spend their honeymoon exploring the United States in a Winnebago that now sits abandoned in the sand dunes of Truro in wait.
Now, Palmer loses sleep because he spends half his time worrying and the other half strategizing.
Palmer is hoping to connect with an organization but will do anything it takes to get his fiancé back even if it means going into the war-zone alone.
WBZ NewsRadio's Laurie Kirby (@LaurieWBZ) reports
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