Americn Freedom

As Americans we enjoy many freedoms but they are often overlooked and taken for granted.

Freedom is defined by Dictionary.com as the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints. The freedoms that American's enjoy are a luxury of being born within the borders of this nation. These freedoms are often overlooked and taken for granted because their benefits were given and their cost's forgotten.

In Clancy's The Hunt for Red October several naval officers risk their lives and the lives of their crew members for a chance to taste freedom. Their actions are an insult and embarrassment to the Soviet Union's Government and the Communist way of Life. This paper will look at the measures that nations and people will go to attain and/or retain this way of life.

Many fight to achieve something that has been considered a lifelong dream, and those who have realized this dream will fight even harder to preserve what has taken countless numbers of lives to establish.

Freedom can be found generally in a democratic society and government. In most cases the people of a nation have risen against the tyrannical regime to escape an oppressive lifestyle of communism, dictatorship and oppressive controlling governments. For those who successfully achieve this goal, the thought of losing it will excite a nation to defend it at all cost. For others they fight and die for an intangible, inexperienced dream that may or may not ever be realized.

Aristotle stated the following about democracy, "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost."

In Clancy's The Hunt for Red October a handful of naval officers have come to realize freedom can only be attained by defection from the Soviet Union to the United States. Captain Marko Ramius has devised a plan to take a secret new Typhoon Class submarine, the Red October, on its maiden voyage and sail to the United States. Although the novel can be viewed from a military and tactical position, the underlying theme is the desire for a few men to escape a communist government and experience what freedom really is. For these men, they are chasing a dream of something that has never been experienced and are willing to die for a mere chance at that dream.

The Soviet Government views this action as nothing less than mutiny punishable by death, and sent their entire naval fleet to attack and sink the Red October. Although a fictional story the first Soviet naval defection happened in 1905 aboard the battleship Potemkin

The mutiny on the Potemkin was an instance of the crew members revolting against the officers; it ignited and confirmed the idea that defection at sea was a possible and attainable.

Prior to World War I the United States tenacity and dedication to freedom would be tested by Adolph Hitler and his German military machine. Germany instituted a naval campaign to blockade the seas around the British Isles and Atlantic Ocean.

On 7 May 1915, U-20 sank the liner RMS Lusitania with a single torpedo hit. The sinking claimed 1,198 lives, 128 of them American civilians, including noted theatrical producer Charles Frohman and Alfred Vanderbilt, a member of the prestigious Vanderbilt family. The sinking deeply shocked the Allies and their sympathizers because an unarmed civilian merchant vessel was attacked without any warning. According to the ship's manifest, Lusitania was carrying military cargo. After further investigations, it has been confirmed that the Lusitania was in fact carrying bullets and ammunition for the allies to use against the Germans. However, this was not known at the time and the Lusitania was mistaken for a troopship.

President Woodrow Wilson knew that by now the American populace was watching Germany sweep across Europe with total devastation. Attacking America would just be a matter of time, and would render a devastating outcome. It is this author's opinion that the United Stated did not act soon enough. While countries were falling at the hands of Hitler's overwhelming military machine, President Wilson did not want to get involved . When the Germans sank the Lusitania the American reaction and outcry was too loud to ignore.

Chances for peace were blasted by a decision of the German leaders, made at an imperial conference on Jan. 9, 1917, to inaugurate an all-out submarine war against all commerce, neutral as well as belligerent. The Germans knew that such a campaign would bring the United States into the war; but they were confident that their augmented submarine fleet could starve Britain into submission before the United States could mobilize and participate effectively.

The announcement of the new submarine blockade in January left the president no alternative but to break diplomatic relations with Germany, which he did on February 3. At the same time, and in subsequent addresses, the president made it clear that he would accept unrestricted submarine warfare against belligerent merchantmen and would act only if American ships were sunk.

In early March he put arms on American ships in the hope that this would deter submarine attacks. The Germans began to sink American ships indiscriminately in mid-March, and on April 2 Wilson asked Congress to recognize that a state of war existed between the United States and the German Empire. Congress approved the war resolution quickly, and Wilson signed it on April 6.

The United States had been thrust into a position that it did not want to be in. President Wilson wished to remain neutral, but he knew that if Germany continued on the course they were headed an attack on America was imminent. Wilson knew that the dictatorship of Hitler's regime would be thrust on the United States, and this would threaten our freedom and democracy. The democratic nations that participated in World War I were now fighting to preserve their way of life. All that America had accomplished in her short existence was now in danger. The Americans would have to leave their borders and confront Germany in an effort to keep freedom alive. This freedom was a direct descendent from democracy and would not be easily taken away.

The ancient Greeks (mainly the Athenians) were a unique people. They believed that individuals should be free as long as they acted within the laws of Greece. This allowed them the opportunity to excel in any direction they chose. Individuality, as the Greeks viewed it, was the basis of their society. The ability to strive for excellence, no matter what the challenge, was what the Athenians so dearly believed in. This strive for excellence was the method from which they achieved such phenomenal accomplishments. These accomplishments astound us to this day. They also believed in the balance of mind and body. Although many of them strove to become soldiers and athletes, others ventured into philosophy, drama, pottery and the arts. The two most important concepts which the ancient Greeks followed were found inscribed on the great shrine of Delphi, which read "Nothing in excess" and "Know thyself". This philosophy greatly impacted the Greek civilization.

Athens was the intellectual center of Greece. It was one of the first city-states of its time, and is still world renowned as one of the most famous cities in the world. It was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the city's patron. In 508 BC, Athens became one of the first societies in ancient times to establish democracy. Democracy came from the Greek words, demos, meaning people, and kratein, meaning to rule. This form of government was used at a meeting place which the Greeks called the Assembly. Here the citizens of Athens met monthly and discussed the affairs of state. There were no decisions made by government without first asking the Assembly.

Marko Ramius could never have realized that he was searching for something that had been found thousands of years ago. He, as well as the Russian people, could only know of freedom from capitalist stories and wives tales. The Soviet Union was hunting for the submarine Red October and its crew. The Soviet government had waged war with a few men whom it had trained and were fighting for communism that reward treachery with death. Captain Ramius was fighting for freedom and in the end it was worth a few more lives because of all the ones that had been lost to find it. Ramius was eventually embraced by the American and made it safely to the borders of the United Stated, but he would have also found his freedom at the bottom of the ocean in a Typhoon Class casket.