thedrifter
03-24-09, 07:31 AM
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' rule may be dropped
Reported by: Tim Malloy
Email: tmalloy@wptv.com
Last Update: 3/23 8:26 pm
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Meet decorated Marine Sergeant Brian Robert Fricke, a veteran of combat in Iraq’s murderous Anbar Province.
He is a patriot. He is gay.
"I did the same job the other Marines did, but I was treated differently, not by them, but by the law,” says Fricke.
Fricke emerged from his five years in the Marine Corps on a crusade to alert people to the fact that "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" gives the military the right to fire anyone who is gay.
The CIA, The Secret Service the FBI cannot.
The dark side of discrimination aside, Fricke says the exclusion of gays isn't practical.
"Our military needs to be strong as it can be. Our nation needs to be as strong as it can be. If you leave out quality, talented individuals, we are going to fail as a nation."
Fricke talks about the defining moment in his Marine career, in Iraq, when he told fellow Marines, he was gay.
“I came out to several Marines before I went to Iraq and they thought I was kidding. But we became better friends. Being able to get the burden off my chest made us more effective as a unit. Cohesion is damaged when you have to withhold who you are from your unit," he stated.
I ask him, under fire, was he up to the job? Was his gayness a detriment? The response is swift, crisp and Marine-like.
"Certainly not! Absolutely not! There’s not much more to say about that," he stated.
Fricke says his six months in the war zone he was accepted as a warrior, not rejected because of his sexual preference.
It was the moment he touched down in the US with fellow Marines that he felt the sting of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”.
"Everybody ran out to families, new babies, old friends. My partner waited for me, but I couldn’t greet him on the tarmac because I'm gay.”
A recent survey showed the vast majority of Americans are in favor of dropping "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Brian Fricke has moved on. He has applied to be a police officer in Ft. Lauderdale. He says he has told interviewers he is gay, and was told that would not be a factor in whether or not he is hired.
Ellie
Reported by: Tim Malloy
Email: tmalloy@wptv.com
Last Update: 3/23 8:26 pm
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Meet decorated Marine Sergeant Brian Robert Fricke, a veteran of combat in Iraq’s murderous Anbar Province.
He is a patriot. He is gay.
"I did the same job the other Marines did, but I was treated differently, not by them, but by the law,” says Fricke.
Fricke emerged from his five years in the Marine Corps on a crusade to alert people to the fact that "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" gives the military the right to fire anyone who is gay.
The CIA, The Secret Service the FBI cannot.
The dark side of discrimination aside, Fricke says the exclusion of gays isn't practical.
"Our military needs to be strong as it can be. Our nation needs to be as strong as it can be. If you leave out quality, talented individuals, we are going to fail as a nation."
Fricke talks about the defining moment in his Marine career, in Iraq, when he told fellow Marines, he was gay.
“I came out to several Marines before I went to Iraq and they thought I was kidding. But we became better friends. Being able to get the burden off my chest made us more effective as a unit. Cohesion is damaged when you have to withhold who you are from your unit," he stated.
I ask him, under fire, was he up to the job? Was his gayness a detriment? The response is swift, crisp and Marine-like.
"Certainly not! Absolutely not! There’s not much more to say about that," he stated.
Fricke says his six months in the war zone he was accepted as a warrior, not rejected because of his sexual preference.
It was the moment he touched down in the US with fellow Marines that he felt the sting of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”.
"Everybody ran out to families, new babies, old friends. My partner waited for me, but I couldn’t greet him on the tarmac because I'm gay.”
A recent survey showed the vast majority of Americans are in favor of dropping "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Brian Fricke has moved on. He has applied to be a police officer in Ft. Lauderdale. He says he has told interviewers he is gay, and was told that would not be a factor in whether or not he is hired.
Ellie