Connecticut Vet Turns Tide in Ukraine

0:00It's April 16th. This is Hartford News Today, powered by AI. Dan Rice, a Rocky Hill Connecticut native and West Point graduate, just picked up the civilian award for humanitarian service for his work in Ukraine. From March 2022 to March 2023. The honor came straight from General Christopher T. Donahue, head of U.S. Army Europe in Africa, plus NATO land command during a ceremony in Beesbaden, Germany. He stepped up a special advisor to Ukraine's top general, Beleri Zelushny, starting February 2022, pushing Washington for gain-changing. Weapons like cluster munitions and ATAMS missiles. That advocacy shifted the war's momentum, and he's made 38 trips into the country since the Russian invasion kicked off. Picture this, Rice's path started pure chance in a Miami restaurant on invasion day, February 24th, 2022, when he helped A. Ukrainian family escaped danger via text.

1:00A Connecticut kid, through and through, class president at Rocky Hill High, all-state soccer star, Iraq combat vet, with a purple heart from wounds in, Samara. These days, he's president of American University Keeve, which he joined March 1st, 2023, running two campuses with over 600, students despite Russian strikes killing staff and wounding kids. He sunk $200,000 of his own cash, no salary, splitting time between Ukraine and the states. Rice sees Ukraine gaining ground, hitting deep into Russia with precision strikes while Russians pound civilians. One vet's hustle from Connecticut to Keeve proves grit crosses borders and turns tides.