Vadym Horodnyi was born into a military family and dreamed of becoming an army man himself. His family felt for themselves what the "russian peace" brings to Ukraine. His father often received reports that the family was killed; however, they survived, but his father died defending his hometown from the russian occupiers. The guy had a chance to study in the United States and fulfill his dream, but he almost missed it. Read the story of a Chernihiv teenager who went through the ordeal and ended up in Texas to return to Ukraine in the material of "Apostrophe."
Serhiy and his team
Horodnyi family: Tetiana, Serhiy, and two children: daughter Lilia and son Vadym lived in Chernihiv. Tetiana mainly took care of the children, as Serhiy was a military man and often away from home. But, despite this, the family always spent their free time together. Those rare days or even hours that Serhiy managed to be with his wife and children seemed like a holiday for them.
Military discipline reigned in the family. For example, Serhiy could unexpectedly say: "I give you an hour to get ready, and we are going to the sea." And the family members had an hour to get ready. It is not surprising because several generations of men were military. According to Tetiana, her grandfather, father, brother, and husband were all connected with the military service.
The Horodni family was like a united team, and the captain of this command was Serhiy. At the same time, wherever Serhiy was in his military affairs, he found time to send short messages to his wife and children: "Good morning!" or "Good evening!".
Vadym also wanted to become a military man, looking at his father. He has been interested in tanks, planes, and weapons since childhood. The guy started boxing and kickboxing while preparing for his future profession and achieved some success. He took part in competitions and won many awards. Vadym gradually went to his dream. At 13 years old, he had already started looking for a suitable educational institution. But everything changed on February 24, 2022.
Vadym Horodnyi
Twice deceased
Serhiy Horodnyi was in Kyiv during the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The capital of Ukraine was then the target №1 for the Russian army. It was there that the occupiers rushed to. When Russian missiles shelled Chernihiv, Serhii received a message that his family was killed. He could not believe it. Despite the heavy fighting near Kyiv, the soldier was looking for an opportunity to contact his family. And he succeeded. As it turned out, his wife, son, and daughter are alive, and the report of their death is a fake, planted by someone deliberately to break the defender's morale.
After that, Serhiy urged his family to leave Chernihiv and move to the village of Kyinka (the suburbs of Chernihiv). But a few days later, the village was also shelled by Russians with heavy artillery "Smerch." A shell fell into the yard, where a mother and her children were hiding, and hit a car. Only scrap metal remained from the vehicle, but the family was not injured.
But Serhiy again received a message that his family had died. Being psychologically exhausted, he started calling and managed to reach Vadym again. When the father heard his son's voice, he felt relieved.
In early March, Serhiy came to his relatives to take them home to Chernihiv. At that time, there was already a humanitarian catastrophe in the city caused by the Russian occupiers: no water, heating, or communication. The shops had no food, as the invaders had almost blocked all the roads to the city.
On March 11, Tetiana was supposed to celebrate her birthday. But around 5 a.m., the Russians again began to bomb Chernihiv brutally. Fires started in the city, and the woman and her children were forced to hide in the basement. Serhiy was not with them, because he was defending his hometown. Despite this, he still found some minutes to call and ask how they were. "We are alive, everything is fine," Tetiana answered.
The last call
The occupants moved inside the city on the morning of March 18 and began to strike with artillery and aviation much more often. Serhiy urged his neighbor, who lived in the same stairwell as their apartment, to take his family, leave the city by car, and move south of Chernihiv. This route was the only possible way to evacuate to the country's west. But even it was too dangerous, as evacuation convoys often came under Russian fire.
For the Horodnyi family, this way also turned out to be quite difficult. The wheel of their car was hit by a rocket fragment and damaged. There was no possibility of repairing it. By some miracle, they drove 80 km and ended up in a relatively safe place. People and volunteers sheltered them in the town of Kozelets. The family was lucky. Another convoy of cars with civilians, which was moving along the same road, was bombed by the Russians.
Tetiana, her children Lilia and Vadym decided to join local volunteers in Kozelets to help people and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But Russian missiles flew into this small town from time to time. Serhiy called them on the first day of the family's stay in Kozelets to find out if everything was okay. However, that was the last call.
The family received a letter on March 22 from Tetiana's brother (a soldier) that Serhiy was found dead in Chernihiv. Tetiana immediately went to her hometown to find and bury her husband. Later, the children returned home when the Russian occupiers were driven out of Chernihiv.
Direct to USA
" I did not know what to do after I buried my husband. It seemed as if life had stopped - Tetiana remembers - We had no electricity and communication in the city. And then the light came on for a while, and I accidentally found information on Facebook that there is the Children of Heroes Charity Fund that can help."
The woman applied for help. And, as she says, she did not expect much. But soon enough, the fund called and provided financial and psychological support.
"I found out from the supervisor of the Children of Heroes Fund that the organization intends to support Vadym until the age of 18 and will help him to get access to education, - says Tetiana, - I said that my son wants to study at a military lyceum and then our supervisor Andriy offered us a military academy in the United States."
"I was apprehensive about the tragic story of this family and decided to help Vadym to fulfill his dream of becoming a military man, - says co-founder of the Children of Heroes Fund Andriy Shpakov. - I decided to arrange for the boy to go to the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas, through my contacts in the United States."
But the boy's family only recently agreed to this proposal. "We thought about Andriy's suggestion for a long time. I was afraid to let my son go because the boy was only 13 years old. In addition, he has never been abroad. He has never been anywhere alone, without me," - Tetyana Horodna explains. But after thinking about it, Vadym decided to study in the United States.
7 circles of hell
The Children of Heroes Charity Fund has begun to organize training in the United States for Vadym Horodnyi in the middle of the summer.
"It was not easy. We had to prepare a motivation letter with the family history, passports, visas, and negotiate with the Academy and the embassy," says Andriy Shpakov, "The Academy offered only two free places for Ukrainians. Therefore, it was a unique chance for Vadym."
The trials for the family continued, as it was quite difficult to get a visa to the United States, even for study purposes.
"We went through 7 circles of hell to at least make an appointment for Vadym's interview for a study visa at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, as the documents were not accepted in Ukraine," continues Andriy Shpakov, "The family did not even have foreign passports.
Vadym's interview did not go well. At first, he was refused but was asked to provide documents that he would be enrolled in training and guarantees of payment for training, which costs 48-50 thousand dollars a year. The family lived in Poland for almost two months. Tired of waiting, the family returned to Chernihiv and began to prepare documents for submission to the military academy in Ukraine.
"Together with our foundation and partners, I have connected many high-level contacts in the U.S., - says co-founder of the Children of Heroes Fund Andriy Shpakov.- Texas Senator officially appealed to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw to allow Vadym to come as the academy is waiting for the boy. When the embassy finally demanded Vadym's passport to get a visa, the guy changed his mind about going to Texas."
The supervisor again had to actively contact the family and convince Vadym not to lose the chance. The boy was in despair.
"We went with him to his father's grave. He stood there for a while. When we got home, Vadim said: "That's enough. I want to go to Texas". Then I called Andriy, apologized, and said that Vadim agreed to go - Tetyana Horodna says.
Hi, Texas
"We bought Vadym tickets to Texas via Frankfurt, - says Andriy Shpakov.- There, we ordered an escort service because the boy was underage and flew without his mother. In Texas, our partners, a Ukrainian Pavlo Vershylenko and Timothy Holmsley, an academy representative, organized a great meeting for him, who significantly helped organize the boy's training. Then Vadym was transported to a private airport and brought to the academy in a small plane. Can you imagine how many impressions the guy got?".
Vadym at the Marine Military Academy (second from the left)
Vadym Horodnyi has been studying at the Marine Military Academy for several months. The guy calls his mother almost weekly and tells her about his progress and his classmates. He boasts that he has already managed to hold a real weapon. Emotionally, it is complicated for the teenager, there is a language barrier, but he tells his mother that he will endure everything and return to Ukraine.
"Vadym said that he wanted to return and work in the military unit where his father was, - says Tetiana, - He even asked to send him the patch of this unit."
***
Andriy Shpakov, the Children of Heroes Fund co-founder, is confident that he has done a great thing: "It is a great honor for me to support the family in such a difficult time for our country. And especially to give the boy a bright future and help him realize his dream to continue his father's path - to study military science in one of the best places in the world and return to build a new and strong homeland. It is another small victory for Ukraine, the family, and me."
Children of Heroes, charitable foundation, war in Ukraine
