Hundreds of Muslims from Europe, the Middle East and even North America have traveled thousands of miles into Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State, bolstering the Islamist group's numbers and raising fears back at home.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Many are aware of these shocking figures, especially after the near weekly videos of executions that the Islamic State releases - most recently of two Japanese journalists, both beheaded, and a Jordanian pilot, burned alive.

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But fewer are aware that the West has volunteers arriving in the Middle East for a different reason. To actively fight against the Islamic State.

Jordan Matson is just one of dozens of volunteers from the United States who have gone to Syria to battle the Islamic State beside Kurdish militias.

The 28-year-old Matson served in the U.S. Army, and has been with the Kurdish People's Protection Unites (YPG) since September of 2014.

This Christian warrior traveled to Iraq, and now battles the Islamic State with the words "Christ is Lord" inscribed on his military vest.

"I'm not going back until the fight is finished and ISIS is crippled," he said during an interview with the Associated Press.

"I decided that if my government wasn't going to do anything to help this country, especially Kurdish people who stood by us for 10 years and helped us out while we were in this country, then I was going to do something."

While continued airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition are greatly appreciated by the Kurds, they hope that more Westerners will join them on the ground, taking the fight to the Islamic State.

Matson joined the YPG by contacting the group's Facebook page, the main Syrian Kurdish militia that is fighting in northern Syria and Iraq.

For Matson, the war really is personal, and he is deeply affected by the violence he has seen the Islamic State commit.

"How many people were sold into slavery or killed just for being part of a different ethnic group or religion," he said.

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Currently, the U.S. has not forbidden any Americans from joining the numerous militias that are battling against the Islamic State. However, it does consider the Turkey-based Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) a terrorist organization, and any Americans who join that group may run the risk of losing their citizenship.

"You need to know what you're getting in to," said Matson. "A lot of times you're going out, you're in a mud hit... You have bullets and a blanket, and sometimes you just have bread, but you need to hold the line."

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