Half a dozen volunteers from the United States — veterans but no longer unaffiliated with the U.S. Military — have recently joined about 100 Kurdish troops in northern Iraq to take on the growing threat of ISIS in the region.

Each Americans participant decided to enter the war for different reasons. Some are personal. Some aren’t. Some say they have a desire to help people. While others say they miss being a soldier. One troop wants to ensure that cities that hundreds of Marines and soldiers lost their lives for remain bastions of freedom — and not ISIS.

Aaron Core, a volunteer from Tennessee, told NBC News that he hopes more people follow him into the fight.

“I do believe that if more people joined up with the Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) it would be wonderful,” he said.

NBC News