Joshua Jones, American Killed in Ukraine, Was Front-Line 'Tactical Jesus'

Joshua Alan Jones, a 24-year-old Memphis native killed while volunteering in Ukraine, was a scourge of Russian forces who fought to defend people's freedom, a friend who served alongside him on the front line has said.

Jones, a devout Christian who served with the U.S. Army for three years, quickly earned himself the nickname "Jesus" in Ukraine—based on his bearded- and long-haired appearance.

Comrades have been so inspired by the Tennessean that they have taken to wearing patches of Jones on their uniforms.

"We started calling him tactical Jesus. Just because I mean, dude, he was handy," TJ, a friend and fellow American volunteer who spent five months with Jones fighting to defend Ukraine, told Newsweek in a phone interview from Kharkiv.

"He was real handy. So he was really good at like, CQB [Close Quarters Battle] clearing rooms and stuff like that. So he was just a tactical dude. And he looked like Jesus. So, Jesus."

The patches of Jones were handed out at a memorial held in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on September 3, following his death in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region on the night of August 22, alongside 30-year-old New Zealander volunteer Corporal Dominic Abelen.

"A lot of guys are wearing them all across the front. They were made based on that he looks like Jesus and always threw up the peace sign in pictures," TJ said. "The guy was always praying, wearing religious jewelry, and he was really good at his job. He was real handy and a tactical dude."

News of Jones' death first emerged when Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia's far eastern Primorsky Krai region, said on Telegram on August 26 that volunteers from Russia's "Tiger" Detachment had killed a 24-year-old American man in combat.

Later, a U.S. State Department spokesperson first confirmed to Newsweek that a U.S. citizen had been killed in Ukraine.

TJ contested Kozhemyako's narrative that his friend was killed "immediately after arriving at the front line," clarifying that Jones had been fighting in Ukraine for months—with the pair initially both deployed together with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

"The guy had been here since March. I've been in firefights with this guy, I've been on missions with this guy, I've been on ambushes with this guy. We were all across the front line," said TJ, noting that Jones' military card published by the Russian governor had a date from when he joined a new unit in the Donbas region.

"He's been on this front line all across the bank. He was not just cut down in his first month," TJ said.

Jones and TJ left Legion, whose volunteers are paid, in order to get to the eastern front line in the Donbas, joining a brigade of unpaid volunteers.

Russia has sought to occupy all of the Donbas, which includes Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, parts of which have been under the control of Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The pair later separated when they rejoined the Legion, TJ said, with both remaining on the front line, but with both planning to join a new unit, of which TJ is now part: "That was gonna be his last stop," he said.

'Good Against Evil'

Jones was "as good as it gets," added TJ, who said that their personalities clicked instantly.

Asked why Jones had gone to fight in Ukraine, TJ said: "He recognizes good and it's good against evil this war."

"Ukraine is trying to represent what America represents—freedom and democracy. That was something he was very passionate about. He wanted to see them have their freedom. And, I mean, he was passionate about these people in Ukraine."

Jones was "American, through and through," said TJ. "He represents freedom, and that's why he came here, just like a lot of Americans that come here."

TJ recalled a moment when he and Jones were walking through the streets of Ukraine, and the Memphian declared his love for the country that he volunteered to protect.

"We were walking around, we were seeing the beautiful women, the beautiful city, the beautiful structures, and the guy says 'I will literally die for this country.' And that's stuck in my head—he loved Ukraine, just like he loved his home."

At least half a dozen Americans have been killed in Ukraine.

Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young were killed during an ambush by a Russian tank on July 18. Other Americans who have died fighting in Ukraine include Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, who died during a battle in April, and Stephen Zabielski, 52, who was killed in May.

'The Purest Kind'

TJ remembered Jones as a "special guy" who was a "soldier at heart" and "the purest kind."

He also paid tribute to his selflessness and his devotion to his faith, recalling how Jones prayed every night before any mission—not for himself, but for the safety of those around him, and for his family back home.

"There was a night operation and you could tell Josh wasn't very comfortable with it. I was saying, 'I'm praying for you brother,' but the guy was praying for me, like he's thinking of me," Jones said. "He'll be praying for me even though he's the one in the worse situation. He's thinking about me, somebody that he just met five months ago. So this tells you about his character."

"His soul is with God and I think that's important."

TJ added: "You go your whole lifetime and you don't meet very many people like this guy. God always takes the good ones for whatever reason.

"Ukraine is better off for having him and worse off that he's not here."