Dec 13, 2017 2 min read

Members of VFW Post 4793 presented winners of their Patriot’s Pen essay contest with certificates and prizes Thursday, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

First-place winner Talia Tuttle, second-place winner Ashlynn McVay, and third-place winner Kendra Galloway all wrote essays on the theme, “America’s Gift to My Generation.”

“America’s gift to my generation is the freedom that we have from the men and women that fought in battle so we could have these rights. I myself have known that these rights don’t come freely,” Talia wrote in her essay.

Essays are 300 to 400 words. The contest is open to sixth- through eighth-graders nationally. Two eighth-grade social studies classes at Margaret Bell Miller Middle School, taught by John Van Meter and Caty Wilson, participated locally.

“You just have to remember,” Van Meter said of these veterans and conflicts while pointing to a sign at the front of his classroom that reads “Learn from the past, live in the present, plan for the future.”

VFW members Gary Milovac and James Lang are both Vietnam veterans and glad to see youth interested in these topics.

“I think it’s amazing because when I was their age, I was an idiot,” Lang said with a laugh. He said the students that participated were dedicated and hard-working, “unlike me when I was their age. I’m impressed.”

Essays are judged at the post level, and at least one is sent to districts. Students can win $5,000 for a nationally-winning essay.