Tall with slightly graying hair, Matson conceded that people back home might call him crazy for joining Kurdish forces three weeks ago to help end the Islamic State’s reign of terror.

“I couldn’t just sit and watch Christians being slaughtered anymore,” he said in an interview with USA TODAY. “I got sick of giving online sympathy. Five minutes of lip service does nothing. These people are fighting for their homes, for everything they have.”…

“It wasn’t until an American was beheaded did we do anything,” he said of the execution of journalist James Foley in August. “We just let the monster grow and grow.

“For the U.S. government, it’s not about human life. It’s about how they look in the opinion polls,” added Matson, who was wearing a military uniform and a traditional Kurdish black and white scarf across his shoulders.