America... the land of the Free?

I'll be upfront... this is going to be a little bit of a rant. In recent times, I have started to question the freedom that an American citizen has... let alone a veteran who served their country honorably. This questioning has become much more probing in recent days, when I started to grow my hair long, grow a beard, and wear an earring. It all started when I first came to corporate America, with my military regulation hair cut, crisp clean suit, and honorable discharge in my hand. After a handful of months, I started to let things "go". First is was the beard, I have always hated shaving, it irritates my skin. Then I allowed my hair to grow out, believe me, this was more of a challenge for me, because after 6 years of getting your hair cut once a week, you start to get accustomed to it. At this point, I became some what a topic of discussion... several of my contractor buddies would ask, "is everything alright? or, what's going on with you?" Humored by such acts, my reply became a pattern... I'm still me, my hair is just longer and I prefer a beard. The next thing that I would let go, or start letting go, was wearing a suit everyday... I came to a realization that "looking presentable" doesn't mean I have to wear a suit every single day, buttoned up and necktie cinched to the Adam's apple. It was as if all the people who "loved" me and thought I was a great "kid" with upward potential started viewing me as an outlandish rebel, a loose cannon that was going nowhere fast. I will safely say, I know how to conform with the best of them... I was a Non-Commisioned Officer in the U.S. Army... the real question I have is, do you care more about your appearance than job knowledge... as a U.S. Army Veteran, it would only be fitting for me to "rag" on the Air Force, but they are onto something... Their focus is excellence in job performance, not appearance. The final "death nail" was on a Monday when I forgot to take out my earring. I casually strolled into work, not giving much thought to the "I'm better than you" stares... It was when I reached my boss, and I was told by him how disgusted he was that I would have the audacity to wear an earring. I thought nothing of it... although to him, and corporate America, I had hit the mark of "disrespect". I received a slew of comments ranging from "I can't believe you would wear that to work, down to you're just a damn hippie". Intrigued by such a response, I asked what is really the problem, the answer I got was unanimous... you are disrespecting us (veterans) and your company by your appearance. As I pondered such a response I started to question my motives for everything I was doing. The summation I have reached is this, I am a civilian living in America, the land of the free... a land where we have the right to openly worship god, or curse his name publicly... a land where you can salute the flag or burn it in the street... among countless rights of freedom the American has... rights that I swore to protect and defend... You may read this and come to the conclusion that my military service was less than others, but I urge you to view the principles behind me joining, and I joined the Army freely, I wasn't "drafted". It was no knowledge of mine that I would work where I did, go the places I went and meet the people I met. I swore to defend and protect the constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, just like all my counterparts. In the day and age where less than 15% of young Americans have ever worn the uniform, stood watch, saluted the flag or buried there friend killed in combat... BY THEIR OWN CHOICE, I say, look at that. If you would like to see what is truly unprofessional, let's look at people who are morbidly obese... what about their appearance? What about people who dress the part, yet don't do much more than that... As someone who has done their part, so the people mentioned above don't have to... I think I have earned the right to look however I want.