# Decorated Nebraska veteran embarks on ninth Ukraine mission **Published:** 2026-05-25T10:15:59.000Z **Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/25/forgotten-war-nebraska-veteran-former-lawmaker-readies-ninth-ukraine-mission-amid-russian-war/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/decorated-nebraska-veteran-embarks-on-ninth-ukraine-mission LINCOLN, Neb. — A former Nebraska state lawmaker and decorated U.S. Army veteran is preparing for his ninth trip to Ukraine this week as he works to prevent the ongoing Russian invasion from becoming a "forgotten war," according to [the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/25/forgotten-war-nebraska-veteran-former-lawmaker-readies-ninth-ukraine-mission-amid-russian-war/). Former State Sen. Tom Brewer, a 36-year military veteran who earned two Purple Hearts with tours in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, will lead a delegation of Nebraskans beginning the week of Memorial Day for approximately two weeks. The missions serve as fact-finding operations and a way to give back to Ukraine, which Brewer describes as "Nebraska-like," while sharing stories from the ground and planning for post-war reconstruction. "There are people I've run into who don't even realize the war is still going on," Brewer told the Nebraska Examiner. According to Brewer, daily fighting continues on an active warfront stretching 600 miles with hundreds of thousands of fighters and more than 400 drones deployed nightly. Yet he said Iran's importance to oil and gas prices, combined with the danger war correspondents face, has made keeping the Russia-Ukraine conflict top of mind difficult for Americans. The delegation will include Don Hutchens, former executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, and John Grinvalds, capital bureau chief for KETV who will independently travel as a war correspondent. Grinvalds has produced [award-winning documentary series](https://www.1011now.com/news/ukraine/) documenting his time in Ukraine. Dick Clark, who served as legal counsel when Brewer chaired the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, is also joining this trip to assist with governmental affairs. The team will operate within a few kilometers of the actual war front and will tour agricultural operations, observe a military drone unit, witness demining efforts, visit a golf course retrofitted to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, and meet with government leaders. Brewer's group will also deliver humanitarian aid to elderly Ukrainians in towns near the front lines. The trip marks a celebration for the opening of the Child of Light orphanage outside Kyiv, spearheaded by a Lincoln-based group that Brewer and Grinvalds have followed. Brewer envisions a long-term relationship between Nebraska and Ukraine, comparing it to a sisterhood that could help rebuild the country once the war ends. "If you can just visualize Ukraine, 1-2-3 years after the war is over, and how we can help this country that's so Nebraska-like to become a key part of Europe and the world," Brewer said. "That's really where we need to be thinking." ## Sources - [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/25/forgotten-war-nebraska-veteran-former-lawmaker-readies-ninth-ukraine-mission-amid-russian-war/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/25/forgotten-war-nebraska-veteran-former-lawmaker-readies-ninth-ukraine-mission-amid-russian-war/.