The wife of a former US marine has "completely fallen apart" after receiving a phone call saying her husband had been killed in Ukraine.
Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, left behind wife Brittany and seven-month-old son Anthony when he voluntarily went over to the war-torn country in March.
He was being paid to fight with a private military contracting company in order to "protect the innocent", his family have said.
Last Monday he was killed and his body has yet to be recovered.
The following day Mrs Cancel, 22, received "the worst call of her life" in which she was informed: "Your husband fought bravely but unfortunately he did not make it."
Mr Cancel's father, also believed to be called Willy, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the young widow (also a former Marine) and her son as they face life without him.
"Since that April 26th phone call, her life has completely fallen apart and now she has to figure out how to build it back together, to figure out how to raise her son without his father or financial support," he wrote on the fundraiser, which has raised over $63,000 (£50,000) to date.
"As a family, we are trying to support them as much as possible and be there for each other, but Brittany and Anthony will need more than what we can provide."
Of Mr Cancel's son, the grieving dad wrote: "He will grow up without a father, a father who was brave and selfless and whose life was senselessly lost.
"While he will grow knowing that his father died a hero, we know this will not be easy. No parent should ever have to bury their child, and no child should have to grow up without a parent."
Mr Cancel was originally from Orange County, New York, said his brother-in-law Devin Tietze Jr.
He said he had gone to Ukraine because he was the "type to fight for what's right regardless of the outcome."
Mr Cancel previously served as a rifleman in the Marines and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the Marine Corps said on Friday.
He had no war-zone deployments and was given a bad-conduct discharge after violating a lawful general order, according to Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger.
An official said after the news of Mr Cancel's death: "We once again reiterate US citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of US citizens in Ukraine by Russian government security officials, and that US citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so, using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options."
