Day 29 - Did anyone die for my right to blog?

I had “duty” today, which essentially amounts to being required to stay on base for an extra four hours beyond my regular schedule. Unfortunately, despite the extra hours there remains a lack of news to report on the progress of my request.

In an attempt to discover more information, I succeeded in talking to the Command’s legal representative. My aim was to see if she had for me the copies of the reports from the Psychologist and Chaplain for which I had asked. However, our seemingly stilted conversation resulted only in her statement that the legal office does not yet have both of these documents and she is therefore unable to provide them to me. She advised me that, of course, she would provide these when they are available.

In sum, no “Investigating Officer” has been assigned, and there is no further progress to report.

Looking forward, I intend to offer a more thoughtful post tomorrow as I don’t expect to be hindered by an additional four hours under the direct governance of the Navy. Perhaps I’ll express my thoughts on the adage that is commonly applied to those who speak out against war or the military: “Remember, you only get to say what you do because someone else served and died so you could”.

If you have thoughts on this topic in advance I’m certainly interested to hear them. You’re welcome to either email or post a comment. In a brief online chat while writing this, an individual advocated that free speech is “a God-given right, yes, but that doesn't negate the fact that others have died to prevent others from infringing upon that right.”

An alternative perspective is found in a very short article entitled "The Blinding Fog of War" in which Roger Young asserts that those in the military "did not die for your freedom--they died to maintain the power of the US government over its subjects and to project its power towards other governments that don’t follow its hegemonic direction."

What do you think? I'd appreciate hearing from you, as what you say may very well affect my perspective and writing in tomorrow's post.