Since late February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the world has watched from afar as that small, independent country fights to maintain its independence.
News reports have shown some of the fighting, and the resistance of Ukrainians and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who are determined to save the country from its much larger aggressor.
Retired U.S. Army Green Beret Perry Blackburn says the situation on the ground is much worse than what Americans see on the news.
“There’s a lot more civilian casualties that we don’t know about,” he says. “There’s a lot more indiscriminate killing by the Russians and targeting by the Russians on civilian-populated areas.”
Perry—who lives in Tampa—returned from Ukraine in early June after spending nearly seven weeks there, helping civilians and offering guidance to Ukrainian military officers.
His trip was a private one, on behalf of his nonprofit organization, AFGfree.
“We’ve been working to evacuate people, get supplies in and to house people, when necessary,” Perry says. “The reason I went to Ukraine was to make sure all of our medical supplies and food—and the efforts on behalf of all of our donors—is getting to the people who need it. Within two to three weeks of looking at the supply lines we were using, I realized our donors’ money was effectively changing the environment there.”
Perry—who retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel—initially created his organization to help those left behind in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden withdrew American forces.
His military career as a special forces officer put him in the middle of a number of military hot spots, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Perry’s decision to find a way to help in Afghanistan was intensely personal. His 12-man 5th Special Forces Group was one of the first to put “boots on the ground” in that country as part of the global war on terror after the September 11 attacks.
The group’s challenges were depicted in “12 Strong”—a 2018 film that highlighted how the men adapted to working with local warlords and Afghan fighters, often riding small horses to get through the rough terrain—earning them the moniker “horse soldiers.”
More than 20 years later, Perry still has a close connection with some of the Afghans with whom he worked. He says he knew the Taliban would target them for helping American forces.
“I started AFGfree to help with evacuations, and that turned into sheltering people, and that turned into helping feed people,” Perry explains. “That’s because every border in Afghanistan was closed, and I knew overland commerce was their main way of getting food.”
He says he and a vast network of people that included “anyone with a touchpoint in Afghanistan” successfully got thousands of people out of the country.
“We got all of our American citizens out, all of our lawful permanent residents, but we still have a lot of people who partnered with us that we’re still working to shelter, feed and eventually move out through the visa program,” Perry says.
With so much work still being done in Afghanistan, Perry wasn’t sure at first about devoting time to Ukraine. However, when people there reached out to him directly, he immediately stepped up.
“I think that’s why I became a Green Beret,” he says, explaining that he feels a responsibility to get involved in other parts of the world. “I have the training and knowledge to do something positive to affect the outcome of a very bad situation.”
With regard to Afghanistan, he says he knew what would happen once America pulled out of that country.
“I knew that if we left, it was going to go really, really bad very quickly for the people who partnered with us,” Perry says. “So, the desire to help them, the American citizens left behind, is what drove me to form AFGfree.”
He says his desire to help in Ukraine began with the idea of using his network to provide supplies, shelter and help with evacuations, but he has been able to offer military guidance.
“After I showed up, the military found out I was there, and I was actually honored to have gone and assessed some of their training and provide some feedback on how to better use their training time,” Perry says. “I met with some really good officers who were very open to my suggestions.”
While Perry is the founder of AFGfree, he credits its success to the array of people with a broad range of talents who have come together to make a difference. No one in the all-volunteer group is paid.
“We try to figure out how to get money someplace, how to get the food over there, why the supplies didn’t make it—and we’re doing it from around the world,” Perry says.
AFGfree continues working to help Ukraine. Perry says the situation there is dire. He says he has the utmost admiration for President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.
“I think he’s a great leader, and he’s doing a lot of great things,” Perry says. “The Ukrainians are in it to win it, and want to do everything they can to protect their civilian population and drive the Russians out. I just pray they can hold out and get the right equipment they need to win this thing.”