Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BY DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer
On an afternoon that was otherwise cold and gray, mourners gave warm and glowing descriptions of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. David Fribley Tuesday.
Fribley, 26, Atwood, was one of nine Marines killed March 23 in a rocket-propelled grenade attack when Iraqi soldiers faked a surrender.
Displayed near his casket during funeral services at Warsaw Community High School was Fribley's Purple Heart.
Those who knew Fribley said he had a heart of gold, as well as a warm smile and a way of putting everyone else before him.
"When I found out, it didn't surprise me," teammate and fellow 1996 WCHS graduate Collin Boggs said of Fribley giving up his job and joining the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks. "He would do anything to serve you as a person. He always put you first. It didn't surprise me at all that he quit his job to serve his country."
As a tribute to Fribley, community members lined streets and held American flags - and their hearts - as the lengthy funeral procession made its way from WCHS to Etna Green Cemetery.
Led by an Atwood Fire Department truck, the procession passed under an enormous American flag held up by ladder trucks from the Warsaw and Winona Lake fire departments. At R.R. Donnelley & Sons, the plant shut down while more than 500 workers stood in tribute along Old Road 30.
The procession then passed through the heart of Atwood and in front of Fribley's childhood home, where in 1943 Marines notified Bill Anglin's family of his death in the Battle of the Bulge.
"Everybody knows everybody here," said Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine, an Atwood resident. "The Fribleys are a good family. David gave his life. He had a deep faith in God and believed what he was doing was right. It makes things kind of personal. You watch CNN, and one of the fallen is from Atwood, Indiana. What are the odds of that?"
At WCHS, Fribley was a star athlete in both football and track. He finished his prep career by placing ninth in the shot put state finals as a senior.
Coaches described Fribley as undersized for as good as he was, saying he simply outworked people to beat them.
"For me, as a new coach, a young coach, you wonder what type of people you want to be associated with," said David Bailey, a track and football teammate who graduated with Fribley and who was a pallbearer Tuesday. "David is the epitome of the athlete you want on your team. He always looked you in the eye, always respected you. If we had 15 more guys like David Fribley, we'd be all right. As a friend, I had a more personal relationship through football and track. Watching David work hard made me want to work harder. He led by example, he didn't talk. That's what made him special, he didn't try and show off, he just got it done."
Long-time WCHS Athletic Director Dave Fulkerson said Fribley and his brother Steven, now serving in the Air Force, and sister Ann were cut from the cloth. And it was a piece of cloth - a star-spangled one that draped his casket, and that his mother Linda hugged tightly - that Fribley gave his life for.
"We want to thank everyone for their support, not only here but all over the U.S.," Garry Fribley, David's father and track coach, said before leaving the cemetery Tuesday. "We've gotten support from a lot of people. That's what David wanted to do, bring people together."
Fribley, the hard worker who always got done what he set out to do, told his family that whatever happened he didn't want to be made out as hero.
This may be the only wish David Keith Fribley couldn't see through.
