A Dubliner who died fighting the Russian invasion in Ukraine last week dedicated his life to ‘standing up for the weaker guy’, according to a journalist who co-wrote a book about him.
45-year-old Graham Dale from Raheny in Dublin was killed last Friday while fighting for the Ukrainian Army.
Mr Dale had previously fought in Iraq after signing up for the US Marines just three days after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Journalist Neil Fetherstonhaugh co-wrote a book with him about his experiences fighting alongside US forces, with diaries he kept at the time forming the basis of the book.
‘The Green Marine: An Irishman’s War in Iraq’ was published in 2009.
Graham Dale 'stood up for the underdog'
On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Mr Fetherstonhaugh said he didn’t know Graham was in Ukraine until he got the call yesterday.
“I'm not entirely surprised, sadly, that this is how Graham’s life ended because he's just one of those people that put himself literally on the front lines for other people,” he said.
Mr Fetherstonhaugh said Graham was dedicated to standing up for the underdog.
“He told me that when he was in school in Raheny growing up, he'd often get into trouble because he would be fighting, but what he was doing was he was defending other kids from the schoolyard bullies,” he said.
“That's what he was doing; he was standing up for the underdog. That was the character of the man, you know, that's what struck me when I met him.
“He was very forthright; he was very clear in his intentions on what he wanted to do and what he needed to do in the world.
“I saw a tribute to him yesterday on Facebook from one of his friends in the US saying that he was not only a good friend and a good pal with a good heart, but he was a warrior.
“She described him as the ‘bigger brother’ and that was the man that I met all those years ago.”
US Marine
Mr Fetherstonhaugh said Graham signed up for the US Marines just days after 9/11 when, “for all we knew the world was under attack”.
“The Marine recruiting officer was looking at him going, ‘Are you lost? Are you sure you know what you're doing here?’” he said.
“It was in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and I mean, look, with the benefit of hindsight, we all know what happened subsequently afterwards, but at that time, if you just take yourself back, you know we didn't know what was happening.
“America was under attack and for all we knew the world was under attack.
“It was in that atmosphere, we have to remember, in that context, he signed up to fight for America.”
Deep thinker
The journalist and author said Graham had the classic ‘tight jarhead’ Marine look – but he “wasn’t some sort of Rambo figure who was flexing his muscles”.
“He was quiet-spoken, a very deep thinker; he thought very, very carefully about his actions,” he said.
“He examined his actions, he questioned his actions and you know, he had a lot of mixed feelings and a little bit of guilt about his activities and his experiences in Iraq.”
He said he was “quite clearly very troubled” by his experiences in Iraq – but he is not surprised that he felt the need to defend Ukraine.
“You know, he went out there and people can question his motivations, but in in my mind, he was just standing up for the weaker guy,” he said.
“He would have seen, the Russians in this case, as the schoolyard bully that he battled all those years ago in Raheny.”
Graham is understood to be the third Irishman to have died fighting in Ukraine.
