Back in Denver after his second trip to Ukraine, Greg Gold said growing up in Warren and spending time with his grandparents and their friends who fought in World War II taught him to understand the difference between a war that would help the United States and the world — versus one that is ambiguous.

“This war by Russia against Ukraine is morally unambiguous. Russia is wrong and Ukraine is right, and I’m proud of our country for sticking up for Ukraine,” Gold said.

An attorney and father of three, Gold, the son of Warren attorney Ned Gold, abruptly decided to take his first trip to Ukraine in May when a trial was settled early and two weeks opened up in his schedule. He intended to fly to Krakow, Poland, and travel to the Ukrainian border to help with humanitarian aid — something “Boy Scout-like,” he said.

“But they didn’t need anyone at the border, they needed tactical equipment,” Gold said.

One of Gold’s paralegals, Victoria Siwecki, is from Ukraine and knew someone in Denver who knew someone in Lviv, Ukraine, who could pick up Gold at the border and drive him to the city — and that’s exactly what happened.

Wearing a cowboy hat and traveling with his fiancee, Rosa Robinson, Gold walked across the border with two suitcases full of tourniquets, bandages and as much tactical equipment as he could buy online. He immediately was prompted by signs to download an air raid application on his phone that would alert him if fighter planes or missiles were coming. From there, Gold traveled a little more than 40 miles to Lviv.

In Ukraine, Gold met a Ukrainian attorney and father of three — Alex Gorgan, who at age 47 had volunteered to join the army to defend his country.

“He was in his military outfit. Incredibly smart. Speaks many languages … I could tell he had great character, too,” Gold said of Gorgan. “He accepted the two suitcases, and I could just tell instantly what a hero this guy was and how much I could relate to him.”

Returning to Denver, Gold realized he wanted to do more. He got involved with Ukraine Aid Fund, a Colorado nonprofit dedicated to getting needed items to individual Ukrainian soldiers.

In September, Gold went to Washington, D.C., to see Gorgan, who had come for a short trip to speak with U.S. leaders.

Staying involved in the cause and in touch with Gorgan, Gold soon found that troops needed electronics such as computers, tablets and phones for coordination and communication. In January, he decided once again to travel to Ukraine — this time all the way to its capital city, Kyiv.

“The difference between May and January — the morale is so much better,” Gold said. “More of the buses are open. There’s more people in the streets. And there’s more optimism.”

The Ukrainian community in Krakow sang in the square every evening, Gold said. In Lviv, the power had been knocked out, but if generators were working, stores and restaurants were operating business as usual. And Kyiv, aside from an 11 p.m. curfew and dimmed streetlights, was like being in Denver or Pittsburgh, and felt even safer, Gold said.

“Kyiv — it’s gorgeous. It’s functioning. There are traffic jams,” Gold said.

Captured Russian tanks were sitting in the square, he said.

Obviously American in his cowboy outfit, Gold said that several times during his trip, Ukrainians came up and thanked him.

“It’s beautiful to be American again,” Gold said.

Back home in Denver, Gold has been spending time with more than a dozen Ukrainian teenagers who were flown to the city for a two-week trip through the Ukraine Aid Fund. All of the teens lost their fathers in the war, Gold said.

Among them is a 14-year-old girl whose father was killed in the much-publicized battle for a steel plant in Mariupol. Her mother was taken prisoner.

“She has no parents and she’s in good spirits and wants to fight and wants to win,” Gold said.

The teens, many of whom had never been on an airplane before, are being treated to the Colorado experience with skiing, go-karting, visits to national parks and tours of Denver.

Gold said Ukraine Aid Fund brought the teens here not only to give them a little relief, but to broaden their experiences and help them build networks in the U.S. — which matters because they’re the future of their country.

As the war nears its one-year mark, Gold marvels that last February, he couldn’t have picked Ukraine out on a map. Now, he has traveled to the country twice and has made one of the best friends of his life, he said.

Though he still doesn’t speak a single word of Ukrainian, Gold said he would go back to Ukraine for a third time — or a 20th, 30th or 40th time.

“I learn something each time,” Gold said. He added, laughing, “And everyone knows I don’t shut up about it, too.”