MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — Watching the invasion of Ukraine from the other side of the world, Barry Nelson felt the need to do something. The 23-year Army veteran turned real estate broker from Manitowoc made the snap decision to go overseas.
“I had a group I was going to link up with," said Nelson. "[I} went to the Polish border with my rented van and kind of got stuck between the two border regions.”
Nelson didn't know what to do next, but as he stood at the Ukraine/Poland border watching the thousands of people come through every day, he had and idea. From there, War Uber was born. Barry drove five people at a time in his rented van back and forth between the two countries. A remarkable act that few would ever consider, and yet, for Nelson, it still wasn't enough.
“A lot of Ukrainian men were handed rifles for defense, well they're wearing in some cases tracksuits and Adidas, you know, with just a piece of blue tape and an AK defending,” said Nelson. "They need boots, great, so [there are a] couple different department stores I knew of, [and] I would start walking through them, looking for quality boots.”
Between boots and babies, Nelson made his way across the countries helping whoever he could. But he never feared for himself. He saw what people had gone through and knew this was bigger than him.
Talking about his experiences at the border:
"You see [a] young couple just exhausted…. and they get up and give each other just this most amazing embrace, you know, half joyful, half sorrowful that they made it,” said Nelson.
"Mom, dad and two girls, you know, they're there, they're walking, and you can just see as they're getting closer to the checkpoint, you can see the Polish guards on the other side of the checkpoint," said Nelson tearfully. "You can see the kids smiling, and the girls are getting happy, and mom's getting happy, and then all of a sudden, they look at dad. He's got to go back."
Moment's like that showed Nelson, this was all worth it.
“There's this 80-year-old or at least 80-year-old lady… sitting on this broken white outdoor furniture chair in this middle of this abyss of people,” said Nelson. “I kind of gave her my elbow, walked her to the van, not to this mass transit deal, you know, almost like a limousine.... for her. You can just see, she gave me just the briefest little smile... I'm like, that's why we're here, right? Like, we restore dignity to this lady.“
It's something he struggles to articulate, but wants to share through War Uber on Facebook. With the help of the Wisconsin Ukrainians, Nelson's looking to go back over, buy a minibus, and continue to help.
“The real message is the Ukrainian people are doing just phenomenal things,” said Nelson.
Reminding all of us, this isn't just something happening on TV.
