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What are we
fighting for?
by
Brian
Fricke |
I joined the
Marines in July of 2000; war was the last thing
on my mind. I have always had an overwhelming
desire in my heart to serve and protect, give
back to a community that can only thrive when
its citizens, the smaller parts, care about the
whole. I was raised in a God fearing family, was
in church Sunday morning, Sunday evening,
Wednesday evening and any other time the doors
were open. I was not in a gay culturally
friendly environment from the start, but hey,
that’s not what makes children gay.
I was taught
right from wrong, the value of human life and
the difference between saying and doing: All as
equally important.
Very much in the
closet from friends and family I suppressed,
unknowingly, a very important part of what makes
up: me, myself and I. My identity to age 18 had
been difficult to define let alone allowed to
flourish. I did however concur and hold certain
truths to be self evident. All men were created
equal. “Created” is the key word in this
Nation defining phrase. We certainly are born
the same, but if not into the majority, we do
not remain the same. From the beginning
of the Civil Rights Era, the Majority was white
and male, yet, there is more. I’m a white
male, but I’m gay. I am only treated as equal,
by my government, until I identify myself as no
longer belonging to the majority. In fact, the
majority isn’t white and male at all, its
being straight. My prejudicial element, a thing
about me that another human could point out and
discriminate against however, could be hidden.
African
Americans struggled for equal rights as human
beings on the sole difference that they were a
different color. Not because they were a
different race, Asian or European, East or
American Indian, not having a different accent
or being of different religion, they were
treated egregiously based on naturally born
color. They couldn’t hide their discriminating
factor nor should they have. It was the observer
that had the problem not the subject. The
Unknown Rebel at
Tiananmen Square
became as iconic as Rosa Parks, both taking a
stand against the majority. On larger scales and
on smaller scales all around the world and
throughout history, but few with such irony as a
gay service member in the US Armed Forces.
I knew that I
was a Sexual minority when I joined the Marines.
I knew that I was not really accepted as who I
was, because I had been born different. I came
out to over a dozen Marines I served with in my
five years active duty with no consequence or
remorse. While in Okinawa, Japan I met over 30
gay and lesbian military members alone, even
more in San Diego, California. We serve all over
the world. We are a secretive group of friends,
acquaintances, and fellow gay professional
soldiers all forced into hiding a part of who we
are.
Is it “What
are we fighting for?” Or “Why are WE
fighting?”
We don’t want
to do anything more than protect the citizens of
our nation where ever the threat comes from. We
would die for the inherent freedoms of
strangers. We are fighting, willing to make the
sacrifice in hopes one day WE will be granted
the basic rights to live open, free and in
pursuit of happiness. Maybe we just liked guns,
or being part of an illustrious military
history, for me it was all of the above and like
my grandfather, I did so by earning the title of
United States Marine.
Semper Fi!
Sgt Fricke
(USMC)
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