When Scott Rutter decided to become a military analyst for Fox News, he didn't do it for the money or fame. He said that he did it for only one purpose.

"I wanted to go back to tell soldiers' stories," Rutter said.

Last night Rutter, a Fox News correspondent and retired army lieutenant colonel, spoke to a packed lecture hall in the Thomas Building to kick off Young Americans for Freedom's (YAF) Freedom Week.

Rutter focused his lecture on his experiences in Iraq, both as a commanding officer and embedded journalist.

"I had women and men who picked up a rifle and did what they needed to do," he said. "Not for mom and dad or apple pie -- but for each other."

Rutter's speech was the first in a series of events YAF will hold this week to support U.S. troops abroad and celebrate capitalism.

Tomorrow, YAF hopes to construct a mock cardboard replica of the Berlin Wall at the Allen Street Gates to celebrate the wall's fall on Nov. 9, 1989.

On Thursday, the group will display different posters and hand out leaflets in the HUB-Robeson Center to show what YAF President Shauna Moser said the group views as the imbalance of classes at Penn State.

Moser said Penn State lacks classes exploring John Locke and other classical liberalist philosophers' ideas of free trade and personal responsibility.

She added that many classes instead focus on Marxism, communism and post-modernism.

"You can't know the new stuff if you don't know the old stuff," Moser said, adding that the group was not looking to get rid of classes but to add new ones that would create a balance.

To end the week, a special vigil and small prayer service will be held Friday at 5 p.m. at the Wagner Building as the ROTC takes down the American flag.

Robert Maras (junior-journalism) said he was urged to attend Rutter's speech in one of his classes.

"I'm interested to hear what he says," Maras said.

Moser said that although Freedom Week is a national event held by YAF, Penn State is the only university in the country to be holding a full slate of events celebrating it.

She added that the week is supposed to be positive, focusing on honoring the troops and the country.

"The main thing is celebrating freedom as Americans," she said.

Rutter told his audience the conflict in Iraq would be lengthy, but it was important to focus on expectation goals for Iraq rather than focus on an exit strategy.

"When we were over there, weapons of mass destruction never came into our minds," Rutter said. "What motivated us was helping the Iraqi people. It's going to take time."