Symbol foundation: 
B enjamin 
G iorgio 
G alli 
Foundation

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The Editorial, Trouw education Defense Express Kupiansk AD Link to Mirjam's news page

Foundation

The board, the foundation, hereby presents: Benjamin Giorgio Galli Foundation. This foundation is named after the Dutch boy who fell in Ukraine.

The origins of the foundation

The foundation was created to allow Benjamin's mentality to flow through a foundation that Benjamin would support one hundred percent. Board of the foundation

Purpose of the
foundation

The foundation dedicated to the European hero Benjamin Giorgio Galli who was murdered in Ukraine in his attempt to defend our freedom. It wants, following the example of this man, to contribute to the total restoration of peace in Ukraine. Addressing and trying to provide the means for active sustainability. Such as food, clothing, shoes, socks etc. to the soldiers involved in the active defense of the nation, to supporting the National Police for controlling the security of the country, to supporting the orphanages and hospitals and providing material support to the agencies that are rebuilding the country. By physically getting the priority materials to where they are needed, using vehicles such as cars and trucks. And gradually more sectors in Ukraine will be reconstructed.  
Chairman of the foundation, Mirjam, and mother of Benjamin>  

The history

We received a call on Wednesday, September 14th from Platoon Chief Kurt Kimble, informing us that our son had been injured during a mission on Sunday, September 11th. He asked us to wait, because the doctors wanted to transfer him to Kiev and from there to Warsawa so that we could visit him there. On Thursday, September 15, we were told by Dr. Lackey that Benjamin had been transferred to Kiev, but that the medics there wanted to stabilize him first before transferring him by ambulance to Warshaw. On Friday, September 16, we received the message in the afternoon that Benjamin could not be transported any further. So my husband, Gabriel, and I took a plane to Warshaw at noon on Saturday and from there at 5pm a tour bus to Kiev, arriving at 11am on Sunday morning. But around 3 o'clock in the morning, Dr. Lackey called us to inform us that our son had unfortunately died from his injuries.
We received a letter from SK (a friend of Benjamin) on October 16 in which he told us about the last day with Benjamin. 
Benjamin's mother    

Commentary from SK

Hello, Im a Legionnaire that serves along side of Ben and was injured in the blast with him. i would like to offer my condolences for your loss. I have known him since the very beginning, we met almost 6 months ago, we got along well due to our shared interest of guns. As time progressed we trained together at rivne and later deployed together in the same platoon in Kharkiv oblast. We had many fun times together and I learned a lot from ben not only did he show me how to operate the machine gun but he also taught me how to ride a motorcycle. I vividly remember both of us being on guard duty at night talking for hours about different firearms, politics, society and many more things. We lived together as brothers for months and shared many experiences from digging in the rain to patrolling in the night. I have been informed that you have inquired about the details of the mission on which he lost his life, so I will try to recall the events of that day to the best of my ability. On the first day of our arrival in kupiansk half of the city had been taken by friendly forces already, the city was bisected by the oskil river. The other side of the river still has many enemy troops and it was our platoons mission to secure the main bridge and fend off any possible assaults by the enemy. As a member of our sniper team I was tasked with providing overwatch across the river in one of the buildings closest to the enemies. To ensure the sniper teams safety ben along with 5 others were sent to guard our rear. These men were all stationed in the basement of the courtyard right behind the main building. We all slept in the basement to protect us from enemy artillery fire; however on the morning of the second day shelling was sporadic so me along with multiple others sat on the stairs towards the basement eating our breakfast. Ben was positioned on the very top of the stairs i sat right below him and the rest of our comrades sat below us. Due to the cold weather ben had given me his winter coat for the moment we were sitting talking about how much colder the winter would be and how we would need thick gloves, around this time we could hear artillery start to hit closer but due to the regularity of such shelling see were not concerned. The explosion happend in a split second, I personally don’t remember most of it only seeing a bright flash of light and then being thrown down the staircase into darkness and dust. I immediately realised I couldn’t feel my hand and had a sharp pain in my shoulder so I moved out of the way deeper in the bunker to clear the path for others to try to help any injured. I remember sitting deep in the basement when our medic finally came to attend to me, how he told me that the injuries were sever and how ben had lost a lot of blood, but we were all hopeful still due to the txa that was administered and the fact that our medic reassured us that his brain had stayed unharmed. After being treated I was evacuated in an ambulance through multiple hospitals however i did not get to see ben ever again. I’m sorry for your loss, he will be remembered as a hero who died protecting what he believed in, as a man who wore his boots till the end. 
SK, a frend and Legionnaire.

Rebuilding Ukraine

We are in contact with various volunteers in Ukraine and also internationally Legion. In Kiev we have volunteers get to know the Baptist church that does their work concentrate on the relief and reconstruction of the small villages in the area North and West of Kiev, which continued in the first weeks of the war Russian tanks have been attacked and partially destroyed. They have too provided shelter to many Ukrainian families coming from the east of had fled the country. Many have traveled on to different ones countries in Europe, others have stayed and are helping to bring the people to life to help survive winter.
The international Legion has its headquarters in Kiev and organizes from there they transport the soldiers, supply food, drinks, clothing and medicine to the front and wounded soldiers and people from the front to cities that have already been liberated. Since the relief supplies from foundations and charities do not reach the front come because access is blocked for the civilian population, because it's way too dangerous there. They introduced us to provide goods for both civilians and military personnel front for us to transport. So that we can have an even 'safe' location the goods that we bring there by truck can unload. And then army pickup trucks load the goods and bring these to the people at the front (civilians and soldiers).
This is a whole special ability to penetrate to the places where people need our help the most. We are further away still in contact with a charity organization here in the Netherlands; Lifeline Ukraine. They have a question received from Kiev from an industrial company that cuts steel plates and builds them into ingenious machines. They want for the Ukrainian people who have no gas, water or electricity are small building wood stoves from steel. They have a very simple method for that design that can be easily assembled with just a few pieces is. And they need transportation to transport these heaters across different locations provinces of the country. Meanwhile, the first designs of small steel wood stoves have already been sent and we expect them to start producing small samples soon wood stoves can start. I hope to get the price as soon as possible stove, so we also targeted donations for these stoves can collect.

Alessio (Benjamin's friend)

Alessio is from Sardinia, he now speaks good English, but until a year ago he only knew Italian with a Sardinian accent. At the International Legion they would not accept him. Wasn't it that Benjamin was also standing in the registration queue. Given the lengths Alessio had gone to to get there to fight for the Ukrainian people, Benjamin felt responsible to take this man's fate into his hands and present the International Legion with a choice. Either they accepted both, or else neither. He also guaranteed that Alessio would speak English in a short time and Benjamin would be his translator until then.

Trouw education editors

In a field in Ukraine, 27-year-old Benjamin Galli from Winterswijk films how he feels. “Life is simple here,” he says, showing a bag of freeze-dried food. The camera moves towards a pile of stones, where his machine gun is positioned.

Then a light gray kitten walks past on the stones. Benjamin smiles endearingly. "Look, a kitten."
It is one of the insights that the Dutchman gives to his parents and friends of his time with the Foreign Legion in Ukraine. Where exactly the fragment is recorded is classified information.

He is cryptic about everything he experiences. It is clear that he is among the snipers, but otherwise Benjamin is banned from sharing information, for fear that the Russians will read it. Does he kill people? His friends sometimes ask. "It's war here," Benjamin then replies.

A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the twenty-something, who has a Dutch mother and an Italian father, leaves Winterswijk for the front. "He thought what happened was unfair," says his mother Mirjam Galli. "'Those people are being overwhelmed there,' he said. 'Everything is going to pieces. They're throwing bombs everywhere. I have to do something.' He felt like he had to protect us. That the war would come here too.

"Benjamin is not the only Dutchman who wants to fight in Ukraine. It is unclear how many have joined the Foreign Legion. One other Dutchman is known to have served in Ukraine. This is 55-year-old Ron Vogelaar, who, according to the international army, was killed on May 4 in fighting near the Ukrainian town of Molodova.

In the first days after Benjamin's decision, his parents still try to stop him. "We could never have done that. He was so determined. He said, 'I'd rather have a short life doing something I know I should do than be a 100-year-old knowing I didn't do what I was supposed to do. .' What do you say against that as a mother?

"On February 28, Benjamin will leave by plane for Warsaw in Poland with a large bag full of sturdy clothing. From there he will travel to Lviv in Ukraine.

Seven months later he returns in a coffin. On September 11, Benjamin was injured in a bomb explosion in Kupiansk near Kharkiv. His family hears what happened through a message from one of his comrades.

In the week of the fatal bombing, the snipers of the Foreign Legion in Kupiansk are ordered to provide cover at the bridge over the Oskil River, which runs through the middle of the city. On the second day, the shelling from the Russians on the other side of the city decreases, so the men feel safe enough to eat their breakfast on the stairs to the basement of a building.

'Ben', as he is called by his mates, has given his coat to his friend, who is cold. “We were still talking about how cold winter would be and that we would need warmer gloves,” one of the soldiers wrote to the Galli family. "We heard the shelling coming closer, but we were used to that, so it didn't alarm us. The explosion happened in a split second. I only remember a bright light and us falling down in the dark and dust.

"Benjamin is also hit. A fragment ends up in his head. He loses a lot of blood and is taken to a military hospital in Kharkiv, where he is in a coma for a week. The fragment is too deep to operate. The soldier who was there says that he lived 'like brothers' with Benjamin during the months in the army. "We got along well because of our common interests. I remember the nights we spent hours talking about guns, politics, society and many other things. Ben taught me to ride a motorcycle there.

"Benjamin claimed in the army that he could even ride a motorcycle with a periscope, a submarine-like spyglass, on his head. A video he sends to his parents shows him making an elongated box with tape stuck on his head. And yes, he then swerves across a country road, much to the amusement of his colleagues.

After his repatriation to the Netherlands, Benjamin's body will continue to Italy, where he was born. He has now been buried in the family grave. The money for the funeral was raised through a crowdfunding campaign, in which almost 13,000 euros was raised.

A year after his departure, the parents' sadness is accompanied by pride. Despite his tragic end, his parents feel that their son was destined to fight in Ukraine. Despite the horrors, Benjamin seemed to thrive in the war. He felt valued and useful among the other volunteers, his parents say.

His departure to Ukraine was a turning point in his life, says his father Gabriel Galli. "He had been searching lately. He had no girlfriend or wife and children and had not yet signed a new contract with his boss. That's why he felt free to go. He is a hero who sacrificed himself for us.

"Photos and videos he sent show how Benjamin's cheekbones have become more prominent over the months, under a close-shaven military cut.

During his time with the Foreign Legion, Benjamin still has a lot of contact with one of his best friends, Thijs Esselink from Winterswijk. They met as roommates and were also colleagues at a local transport company.

Esselink says that Benjamin never exercised much and lost some weight in the army. He changed from a couch potato to a tough guy. "He was well built, but now had a sporty appearance. He really became a guy there and often said that when we called. That it was good for him, a bit movement.' Esselink chuckles. "He just thought it was a bit of a shame that he wasn't allowed to drink there.

"According to Esselink, Benjamin was someone who was always there for others. "He was very gentle and helpful. If you needed money for food, he would give you his last euros. He would often give me a hug and say, 'I love you like a brother'. I don't have that with any other friend.

"It did not surprise Esselink that he suddenly left for Ukraine. Benjamin had lived in Italy, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands because of his parents' work. After studying automotive technology, he had various jobs, but was also regularly unemployed.  "Benjamin was not really a boy for society. A 9 to 5 job was not for him. He could be quite lazy. He was super smart, but wasn't motivated to look for work. In Ukraine he had finally found something that suited him.

"Benjamin spent a lot of time playing games at home, especially racing or shooting games. He didn't read much because of dyslexia, but he could explain in detail how to assemble a machine gun. He was always interested in technical matters anyway. business, says Esselink. "When I told him that I liked cars from the Honda brand, he wanted to know exactly why and how such a gearbox worked. He then absorbed that knowledge. Benjamin was a kind of walking encyclopedia anyway. He had a lot of factual knowledge.

"According to his parents, he has always had a fascination with war. At the age of 18, he even voluntarily entered military service in France, where foreigners are also welcome. If he can sign up after a few months, he thinks he decides to go to college.
Benjamin has Jewish roots and grows up with family stories about the Second World War. His mother Mirjam Galli tells the family story about her grandfather, who was on a train to a concentration camp when there was an air raid, after which people were taken off the trains. "The officers all took shelter in a hole. My grandfather also wanted to go in there to take cover, but he hid behind a tree ahead. You won't believe it, but one of those bombs fell right on that hole. That was the first time he believed God existed. "Benjamin was also religious himself. His mother tells about a special encounter her son had on the way to the front. He was on the train to Lviv when he met a priest who gave him a Bible, Benjamin had forgotten his own Bible. "He read it out loud because he understood the text better this way, due to his dyslexia. Struggling with reading in his youth turned out to be a gift during the war. His comrades were thus able to listen to him read from the Bible for seven months. "After receiving news of the fatal attack, Benjamin's parents go to Ukraine to see him. They are just too late to find him alive. They take him to the Netherlands, just like his backpack with the Bible. The bookmark was Psalm 27. Benjamin had stopped at a prayer against enemies: 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? With the Lord my life is safe, who should I be afraid of?' The day before his death, friend Thijs Esselink receives a last message from Benjamin. He reports that he is going on a mission and that it will be 'very busy' in the coming days and that he therefore cannot contact him. "Hey buddy," Benjamin writes. “It was great being friends with you.”"
Eline van Suchtelen, Redactie onderwijs Trouw