Misty Gossett said Wednesday that she remembers the exact time when the call came that her son Joshua Jones had died in Ukraine: It was 3:50 p.m. Aug. 23.
In the ensuing 22 days, she said, all that she wants is for her son's remains to return to the United States. Gossett is the first member of her family to speak about her son's death and the emotional toll of waiting for his body to be repatriated.
"It would be a step to closure," she said from her home in Memphis, Tennessee. "There was a Ukrainian memorial by his comrades that was touching, but ... the United States is my son's home."
Jones traveled to Ukraine on March 30, more than a month after Russia invaded that country. He told his mother the day before his 24th birthday that he would travel to Ukraine, saying "I'm not trying to hurt you, but I have to go."
Gossett said that her family does not have any connection to Ukraine, but that her son was a born soldier. He served three years in the U.S. Army, and he decided with a group of friends he made in the military to join the fight.
"I think they had just, you know, built this passion to go and help people that needed help," she said. "We personally have no ties to Ukraine in our family whatsoever. It was just our son wanted to go somewhere to help people."
Many non-Ukrainians have traveled to the country in hopes of helping its defenders fight off the Russian invasion. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have even created a dedicated Foreign Legion to organize the influx of former soldiers from across the world who have joined the fight.
Jones is not the only American combatant to have died in Ukraine. The Department of State has previously confirmed the deaths of Bryan Young and Luke Lucyszyn in July.
Two other American veterans, Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, were captured by Russian forces. Grady Kurpasi, a Marine veteran, has been missing since June.
NBC News has reached out to the State Department for comment.
"I know we're not the only family that's trying to get the same resolution," Gossett said. "That's all we want. We don't have a dog in this fight other than to get our baby home."
CORRECTION (Sept. 15, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the time Misty Gossett was told about the death of her son. It was 3:50 p.m., not 3:15 p.m.
