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LCpl. David K. Fribley, U.S.M.C (KIA)
(reprinted from the News - Press)
War casualty had Fort Myers ties
David Fribley wanted nothing more than to be a Marine
David Fribley stopped searching for his purpose in life after the planes flew into the Twin Towers.
He no longer wondered if he should be a Marine biologist or work with police dogs or do something with wildlife or take another career path.
“He said over and over and over again, ‘I want to be a Marine,’” said Teri Kollath, the manager of resort services at Shell Point Retirement Community near Sanibel Island.
In May, Fribley, a Cape Coral resident, left his job at Shell Point for Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and his new life as a Marine.
Just ten months later, the soldier died Sunday as a Marine serving his country in Iraq. He was one of nine Marines killed in fighting near Nasiriya, Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.
Fribley was raised in northern Indiana where he was a star athlete in football and track at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, about 40 miles west of Fort Wayne. He graduated from Indiana State University with a degree in recreation and sports management.
Garry Fribley, who lives just outside Warsaw in Atwood, said he and his son had talked about the possibility of such an attack.
“That’s part of war. People better wake up. There are no rules in war ... It’s time to take the gloves off,” he said. “We’re so intent on being the nice guys, and they (Iraqi soldiers) are not going to abide by anything.”
Before Fribley left for boot camp, he gave co-workers letters thanking them for his time at Shell Point.
“‘The greatest gift one can give to another, is the gift of service’ I do not know who said this but I have heard this saying before,” Fribley wrote to his supervisor Tammy Laude. “The following is my gift to you and others; may I honor you and our fellow countrymen and women. I will earn the privilege to wear Eagle, Globe and Anchor for all those that can not. With all the strength of my fellow Marines, we shall always provide you with the comforting feeling of safety that you have each day.”
He signed his named at the end of the letter followed by — “Future: United States Marine.”
Laude, Shell Point resource coordinator, remembered Fribley as a young man who overflowed with energy.
“His mind went a mile a minute . . . I couldn’t keep up with him,” she said.
As program leader, Fribley planned all the community activities, such as outings to the beach and the fall’s Harvest Festival. Other plans involved the adventure series for the 1,700 residents that involved kayaking and fishing.
“He generated more ideas than we could implement,” Kollath said.
Laude hired Fribley in April 2001 after an internship at a St. Petersburg resort ended, she said.
The man whose smile “went from ear to ear” loved country music and dancing, Laude said.
“He sounded like Indiana,” she said with a smile. “His laugh was kind-of corny but it was a fun laugh.”
Those at Shell Point learned about Fribley’s fate just after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday when a family member called, Kollath said, adding she was in a meeting and got a message that he had died in Iraq.
“The war reached home to Shell Point today,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “We are really going to miss him.”
Adam Stewart, a close friend of Fribley’s in Cape Coral, said he had tried to talk Fridley out of joining the Marines.
“He was pretty hard-headed,” said Stewart, 32. “You couldn’t talk him out of it. But he knew the risks.
“I still in disbelief right now. Out of all the people we had over there it had to be him.”
— Sarah Lundy of The News-Press staff contributed to this report