Mar. 11—While the world watches Russian troops invade Ukraine on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Owensboro native Frank Tate decided the time was right for him to do something to help.
Tate spent six days in the war-torn country last week.
The current Clarksville, Tennessee resident returned home from Ukraine on Sunday after volunteering with Aerial Recovery Group of Nashville in the war-ravaged country.
“It is primarily built up of military veterans and operators from all branches of the services,” Tate said Thursday.
The nonprofit organization is an economic development and disaster relief organization, he said.
Tate soon found himself on the receiving end of a phone call asking if he would be able to volunteer his time and skills with the group in Ukraine.
“I was actually on my way to Owensboro and there was a gentlemen on the phone who said how quickly can you get a bag packed, and I said I can have one ready by tomorrow morning and they said, ‘alright, we need you to go over and help us out’,” he said.
While his trip to Ukraine came together quickly, the father of three said he discussed the situation with his wife and were in agreement that he should go.
While some might hesitate to enter a country currently under attack, the potential dangers of the situation did not stop Tate from stepping up to do what he could to help.
“Honestly that wasn’t even a consideration,” he said. “…When I got the call, I kind of felt that this was a divine opportunity to go and make a difference in someone else’s life.”
Tate flew out of the United States on Feb. 28, landing in Poland before moving into the Ukrainian city of Kyiv.
“I arrived over there, boots on the ground, with one other guy with a strong background in development and administration and with my prior military experience, we went over there and we did exactly what we were asked to do until the remainder of our team was able to show up,” he said. “Now there are about 10 guys there; we anticipate that we will have a presence for about the next three to four months and we see our team growing to about 30 people.”
Tate said the purpose of his mission was to set up administration, logistics and focus on getting things in place so Aerial Recovery Group could conduct safe and effective evacuations.
“Now the team there has been doing evacuations for orphanages,” Tate said. “Our estimated number is between 200-300, that we currently saved.”
Tate said it is difficult to put the sights and sounds of what he witnessed in Ukraine into words.
“Roads were congested at borders, what the news is saying about borders being deadlocked is 100% accurate,” he said. “Even with humanitarian passes and being able to run aid across the border swiftly, we still would get constrained with a three or four-hour border crossing time.”
With the Ukrainian border on lockdown, Tate said it is not unusual to see people waiting 14, 16, or 24 hours in a vehicle, waiting to move a few feet.
“Keep in mind, gas is a large talking point right now in the United States,” Tate said. “The Ukrainian people are limited to 20 liters (5 gallons) a day, so when they get in their car and they make their final trek out of the country, part of the consideration they have to take is how long can they sit in their vehicles before they run out of gas.”
Tate said a lot of Ukrainians are opting to abandon their vehicles along the side of the road and continue to the border on foot.
While a personal and professional obligation brought Tate back home to Tennessee after six days in Ukraine, he said he is hopeful he might be able to return again.
“With the Lord’s blessing, I will try to obligate some more time over there soon,” he said.
