![Sebastian Junger on the defense of freedom, in the land of the free](https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/07/02/980b93c9-a4b3-4285-9fd9-f0408674c2b0/thumbnail/1200x630/608e06b90de8014799fdee33f1f26479/american-flag.jpg)
Sebastian Junger on the defense of freedom, in the land of the free
CBSN
Sebastian Junger is a journalist, filmmaker, and New York Times bestselling author of such books as "The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea," "Fire," "War," and his latest, "Freedom" (published by Simon & Schuster, a division of ViacomCBS).
Years ago, some buddies and I walked up the East Coast along the railroad lines, sleeping under bridges, drinking out of creeks, and cooking over campfires. It was a kind of high-speed vagrancy that saw us pass through everything – farms, ghettos, suburbs, wildlands – that make up this great country.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.