Okay - break out the pitchforks, torches, and hang me in effigy. Yet before you do so, please note that I am an American Veteran. I served my country from 1996 to 2006 in the US Navy. After leaving the Navy I spent all of 2007 in Iraq working with military programs and from 2008-2015 I was a US Military Contractor. 
I fully support the USA and if the US military called me to serve again, I would do so.
This still does not change my question of the concept that American Soldiers are defending my freedom.
In 1775-1783 the traitors to the English crown in the American colonies fought a way for freedom against their dictators, eventually winning the war and being able to broker a deal that slowly won the approval of other countries to recognize the United States of America.
in 1776 the United Stated of America was also fighting Indian wars against the people who lived in this land before we claimed it as ours and wrested it from the hands of the English. We would fight wars against the Native American people (Indians) until the last war in 1923. Basically 147 years of war against the native people of this land until they were defeated to the point where they would fight no more.
We would fight multiple wars with our neighbors Canada and Mexico to establish where our borders lay like the war of 1812 against Canada and the United Kingdom; Texas Revolution from 1835 - 1836; and so on up until the 1910-1919 Border War with Mexico where we would defeat Pancho Villa's troops and essentially end any disagreements about where our sovereign borders lay.
We did fight a few wars with countries that were not on our border in the beginning like the Quasi-War with France from 1798-1800; the Barbary Wars in Africa against the Ottomans from 1801-1805, and again in 1815; Aegean Sea Anti Piracy Operations in 1825-1828 to kill off Greek pirates; Ivory Cost Expedition in 1841; and many others.
We did have some uprisings inside the United States like the: German Coast Uprising in 1811 where Haiti sponsored slaves to revolt and attack New Orleans; the Mormon Wars (Utah War in 1857-1858, and others); and of courses the skirmishes, battles, fights, and whatnot leading up to the American Civil War in 1861-1865)
Once we were accepted by other countries as being a real power, they even asked us to join their wars of expansion. Our real first foray into this was the Second Opium War from 1856-1859 against the Qing dynasty in China. The Shimonoseki war was our second foray in 1863-1864. In 1871 we would go alone against the Joseon Dynasty in the Korea Expedition. In 1898 to 1899 we were involved in the Second Samoan Civil War where we would obtain American Samoa. Then the Spanish-American War where we would lead to the collapse of the Spanish empire and we would obtain Cuba as a protectorate. 1899-1902 was the Philippine-American War. Then the Moro Rebellion in 1899-1913. Of course the Boxer Rebellion in 1899-1901 basically leading to the subsequent fall of the Qing dynasty in China in 1911.
From 1911 on, we did have a few battles with the American Indians on our own soil, but the wars we would now fight were wars on foreign lands. Occupation of Nicaragua from 1912-1933; Occupation of Veracruz in 1914; Occupation of Haiti from 1915-1934; Occupation of the Dominican Republish from 1916-1924; World War I from 1917-1918; Russian Civil War from 1918-1920; World War II from 1939-1945; Korean War from 1950-1953; Laotian Civil War from 1953-1975; Lebanon Crisis in 1958; Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961; Vietnam War from 1955-1975; Communist Insurgency in Thailand from 1965-1983; Korea DMZ Conflict from 1966-1969; Dominican Civil War from 1965-1966; Insurgency in Bolivia from 1966-1967; Cambodian Civil War from 1967-1975; War in South Zaire in 1978; Gulf of Sidra Encounter in 1981; Multinational Intervention in Lebanon from 1982-1984; Invasion of Grenada in 1983; Action in the Gulf of Sidra in 1986; Bombing of Libya in 1986; Tanker War from 1987 - 1988; Tobruk encounter in 1989; Invasion of Panama from 1989-1990; Gulf War from 1990-1991; Iraq No-Fly Zone Enforcement Operations 1991-2003; Somali Civil War 1922-1995; Bosnian War 1992-1995; Intervention in Haiti 1994-1995; Kosovo War 1998-1999; Operation Infinite Reach 1998; War in Afghanistan 2001-NOW; 2003 invasion of Iraq 2003; Iraq War 2003-2011; War in North-West Pakistan 2004-NOW; Somali Civil War 2007-NOW; Operation Ocean Shield 2009-2016; International Intervention in Libya 2011; Operation Observant Compass 2011-2017; American-led Intervention in Iraq 2014-NOW; American-led Intervention in Syria 2014-NOW; Yemeni Civil War 2015-NOW; and the American Intervention in Libya 2015-NOW.
Of these wars the following are currently ongoing:
- War in Afghanistan started in 2001
- War in North-West Pakistan started in 2004
- Somali Civil War started in 2007
- American-led Intervention in Iraq started in 2014
- American-led Intervention in Syria started in 2014
- Yemeni Civil War started in 2015
- American Intervention in Libya started in 2015
From the last Native American uprising in 1923 until now, US soldiers have not fought on US soil. For 97 years now, our soldiers have had to be exported in order to fight.
So - how does this defend the freedom of Americans at home? We send our young men all over the world to fight wars in other people's lands. How does that make Americans safe here in America. When we look around and see the freedoms we have today, how does the sacrifice of our American service members and their families equal that freedom?
Are you willing to take a tough and thoughtful look at our society, our economy, our way of living, and see how we can afford to do what we do?
Inside the United States, we have one of the most vibrant economies on the planet, at least that is what we are told. We do buy a lot of things. Our people are paid more then any other country on the planet. We consume more, buy more, use more, waste more, then any other group of people on the planet today and perhaps, even in the history of the world.
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