Freedom Citation Essay: True freedom is found in those who sacrifice themselves for others Published Sept. 9, 2010 By Senior Airman Daniel Stebner 552nd Training Squadron TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- What is freedom? What is the goal, the purpose of it? How can you judge an ideal like freedom? These questions I ask you because they are relevant to today's society. Today we are stricken with people who don't care to realize what they are given and capable of. Something so beautiful is yet so unappreciated. Freedom is what people take advantage of on a daily basis. But for those of us who are serving our country we understand what ideals we fight and die for. We alone understand what sacrifices we need to make, and yet we bear the complaints and anti-war rallies so everyone else can have their freedom. When we are the volunteers for the truth and justice of the American people, we are the ones who bear the burden for the ideal of freedom. So what does freedom mean to me? It means that we must strive for the dream to be able to show our beliefs and faith in the world. It means that we are the caretakers of the hope to be truly free, despite the ones that take our given freedoms for granted. As much as we are able to give, there are always those who take more. The goal of freedom is to do just that, supply for those who want it so they can do what they believe is right with fair and impartial justice. So the world can have great ideals of their own and be happy with their decisions, we supply what freedom we can. Ideals like freedom are the most beautiful thing that humanity has to offer. How else will anyone be truly happy unless they are truly free? Yet true freedom is only in the heart of those who sacrifice themselves for it, for in the end freedom is only given by virtue and the forfeit of those lives who care. Freedom never changes and yet will never be the same. Freedom is the choice that people make every day whether to go to work or save a child from a burning building. Freedom is the way of the American people, to do what needs to be done and what we feel is right. Freedom is our choice and we will bear the burden of ultimate sacrifice with love and compassion so that others may live as they choose.