U.S. volunteer John Cole (C), 23, carries his assault rifle at a checkpoint in Makhmour, Iraq April 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Reuters: U.S. volunteers seek adventure fighting Islamic State alongside Kurds
Towering over his Kurdish partner at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, U.S. volunteer John Cole cuts an unusual figure on the road to the newest front in the war against Islamic State.
Seven feet (2.1 meters) tall and holding his assault rifle upside down, Cole is among a relatively small band of Westerners who have made their own way to Iraq to take up arms against the militant group - even though Kurdish authorities say they need foreign money and weapons more than men.
Exactly how much fighting Cole has done is unclear, but the 23-year-old said that - unlike most regular U.S. soldiers stationed nearby - he has participated in offensives against Islamic State that involved artillery fire and airstrikes.
"You can feel the explosions in your teeth. It's kind of cool actually," he told Reuters, nervously pulling on a cigarette.
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WNU Editor: I could never understand the need for a human being to rush to a war-zone. Then again .... my father was like that. After the Second World War he wanted to be a war correspondent, when refused he wanted to be a military adviser in any foreign conflict involving the Soviet Union .... refused again. He then wanted to be a diplomat in a war-zone .... he was accepted but he was then shipped to Canada. LOL .... lucky for me .... because many years later I now live in Canada..
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