I’ve always lived within earshot of a base, Selfridge ANGB and Aberdeen Proving Grounds. The sound of freedom to me is a F-16 flying over or a test bomb exploding at APG.
For 17 years I lived about 10 miles north of Camp Swift, a 10,000 acre WWII training site located in Bastrop County, Texas just east of Austin. On many week-ends, even 10 miles north, if the wind was out of the south I could hear the thump, thump, thump of the 50 cals.
Like you, I always responded to the whiners that “I love it, it’s the sound of freedom”. In 17 years, I think I managed to shame a handful of folks.