Ray Wolf: Does the Military Protect Our Freedom?

Came across this old blog from 2002 written by a veteran, when looking into this issue in my reaction to a comment Dan made downthread that (I'm paraphrasing) support of the U.S. military, our warriors, was not always a "libertarian" characteristic.

Dan got me thinking about our typical modern day warrior's relationship with "freedom" and "liberty".

"I’d like to thank our military personnel for defending our country and protecting our freedoms." In the wake of September 11, this is a common public acknowledgment from celebrities, politicians, myriad TV and radio commentaries, and many people on the streets of the United States.

As a Navy veteran, whenever I hear statements like these, I think, "What are they talking about? Since when does the military have anything to do with freedom?"

One veteran's perspective at the link. Perhaps interesting.

My view is that our warriors are not much different than our non-warriors when it comes to their perceptions of "freedom" and "liberty".  This author seems to take exception to the view that our warriors are "protecting  our freedoms".  Of course, I have witnessed many warriors who apparently look at "freedom protection" as an important role for our military institutions.

I do not look at the role of our warriors as one of primarily "freedom protection", rather, I look at our warrior's primary role as one of protecting our lives and nation.