Family Searching for Veteran Army Ranger and Wisconsin Police Officer

UPDATE

Missing Army Veteran Bruce Windorski Found Alive

from NBC News

Wisconsin man who battled Islamic State in Syria missing
Journal Sentinel
Karen Herzog
October 24, 2015

A former Army Ranger and police officer from Wisconsin who joined the war against Islamic State in Syria for several months earlier this year has been missing for the past week, according to his wife.

Jerrit Okimosh Courtney Windorski of Gillett and her husband, Bruce, are shown on their wedding anniversary in May. Bruce Windorski, who had joined the fight against the Islamic State in Syria earlier this year, has been missing for a week, according to his wife.

"He never talked about going back overseas, but he probably wouldn't have talked to me about it because he wanted to protect me," said Courtney Windorski of Gillett, who reported her husband, Bruce, missing last Sunday when he failed to return from what he told her would be an overnight with other veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bruce Windorski, 40, was featured in a Sept. 5 Wall Street Journal article about American veterans who have voluntarily gone on their own to fight Islamic State.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that fewer than 100 Americans have done what Bruce Windorski did in January, when he left his home north of Green Bay without telling his wife and two children what he was doing.

After arriving in Syria, he kept in touch with them whenever possible. He returned home Easter weekend in April.

Bruce Windorski had fantasized for years about visiting Kirkuk, Iraq, where his older brother, Phil, died in 2009 when his Army helicopter was shot down, according to The Wall Street Journal article.

In January, he caught a flight to Iraq with plans to visit the area where his brother died, which didn't work out. He instead took up arms as a westerner alongside the People's Defense Units, or YPG, battling the Islamic State in Syria.
read more here

Americans Volunteer to Fight ISIS in Syria
9/4/2015
Two American military veterans decided to fight with a Kurdish militia against ISIS in Syria. They captured their harrowing journey on video, and say the Kurds need more support from the U.S. to succeed. Photo: Bruce Windorski