Atlanta-based Marine Corps vet uses experience to train Ukrainians fighting Russian invasion

ATLANTA - An Atlanta Marine Corps veteran and entrepreneur is doing what he can to help fight Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He’s training a handful of civilians in military combat.

Lance Zaal, who did two tours in Iraq from 2002 through 2006, decided to use his experience to help train average Ukrainian citizens.

"They were just given a rifle and a loose command, but they weren’t trained," Zaal said. "These are people who didn’t have military experience: photographers, dentists, dental, hygienists …"

Zaal, who founded the entertainment company Atlanta Ghosts, launched Ghosts of Liberty, a group of veterans who have supplied 80 Ukrainian civilians so far with much-needed equipment to help them protect their home.

"They didn’t have any gear," Zaal said. "We had domestic body armor made in the country. [We] also provided night-vision scopes for rifles and machine guns."

His goal is to give a fighting chance to as many Ukrainian civilians as he can.

"It breaks my heart. But the longer it goes on, the angrier it makes me," Zaal said. "They don’t want to fight. But they have to fight. They see they don’t have any choice."