“The true character of liberty,” 
wrote the French philosopher Voltaire, “is independence, maintained by force.” Since 1776, the U.S. military has provided the force to defend America’s liberty.And since 1873, the U.S. Naval Institute has advocated independent thought as essential to creating a smart, effective national defense.
It’s not always been easy, given, as independent thinker Mark Twain noted, that such “loyalty to one’s best self and principles…is often disloyalty to the general idols and fetishes.”
On this Independence Day – our Nation’s 233rd birthday – the Naval Institute celebrates with a special collection of articles and essays that exemplify America’s, and the Institute’s, spirit of independence.
Tom Wilkerson
Major General, USMC (Ret.)
U. S. Naval Institute CEO
Comment and Tell Us about Those Who Dare…to Read, Think, Speak, Write - and Blog
Recent Posts
- Midrats this Sunday, May 17 2013 – Episode 167: Intellectual Integrity, PME, and NWC
- Remembering our Fallen Coast Guard Shipmates and their Families
- On Midrats 10 Mar 13, Episode 166: “Expeditionary Fleet Balance”
- Guest Post by LTJG Matthew Hipple: From Epipolae to Cyber War
- For Strength and Courage: Neptunus Lex
Subscribe
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.