Veterans of Foreign Wars Freemond Madson Post 447 and its auxiliary sponsored the Patriot’s Pen essay contest in District 241 schools.

Students at Southwest Middle School, Halverson Elementary School and Lakeview Elementary School chose to participate. The 2009-10 theme was “When Is the Right Time to Honor Our Military Heroes?”

The winners at Southwest were Nicole Borneman, Courtney Turvold, Lauren Sorenson and Veronica Silva, with Borneman taking first-place honors.

At Lakeview, winners were Emma Iverson, first; and Annika Jensen, second.

At Halverson, winners were Emma Boyenga, first; Colton Mowers, second; and Hallie Cantu, third.

The 2010-11 theme will be “Does Patriotism Still Matter?” This will be due by Nov. 1.

Following are this year’s winning essays.

Southwest Middle School

By Nicole Borneman

first place

When is the right time to honor our military heroes? The right time is anytime. Military heroes put their lives on the line for our own. They can be honored day or night, weekday or weekend, on a Sunday, Thursday or even a holiday! Military heroes don’t ask for our praise; they are out there fighting for their rights, their freedom and their families. Military heroes should be honored at any time, any place, because they are risking their lives for the lives of all U.S. citizens.

Military heroes have to be worried, over fighting for the United States; most have no family overseas with them. Very few are lucky enough to have their family travel with them or to have their spouse or relative also in the military. Most military heroes have no phone contact with their loved ones; if anything, they have post mail contact. They don’t get to celebrate things — like birthdays and Christmas — with their families because they are overseas protecting our country. Military heroes don’t get to sit down for supper with their families or go out to eat with them.

They go to bed each night not knowing if they’ll make it to bed the next night; they wake up each morning not knowing if they’ll ever get to see the sun rise again. Life in the military is rough; there’s no denying that. When people in the military come home, some are handicapped or mentally scarred for life. Deciding to join the military is nothing to be taken lightly.

Military heroes deserve to be honored and respected. But there is no right time to honor them, because anytime is the right time. People who honor the military heroes have their own methods of thankfulness. People who honor the military heroes who died fighting for the United States have their own methods of grieving. Everyone is different.

Military heroes can be honored at any time of the day, 365 days a year. They make the United States a better place with everything they do.

Halverson Elementary School

By Emma Boyenga

first place

The right time to honor our military heroes is every day. They have done so much for us that we should be grateful to them whether it is on a special holiday like Veterans Day, or just any day.

We should honor everyone who was in the military and serving us. That includes people of all ages and backgrounds. Many of our relatives have fought for us, and so have people we don’t even know.

Some of the wars our veterans fought in include World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our troops are fighting today in Afghanistan and Iraq to keep us and the people of those countries safe.

We should honor all veterans because they sacrificed for us. They left their wives, children and husbands, all so that we can be free and safe. Many sacrificed their lives for our country, and others were seriously injured and became disabled during wars. They might have been scared or frightened when they went to fight, but they had courage and bravery and overcame their fear for us.

Ways to honor our veterans include shaking their hands when at parades, in restaurants or whenever we may meet them. We can simply say “thank you” to express our gratitude. We can even give veterans flowers or baskets of food, or we can plant a flower garden or vegetable garden in their names. We can also help them to go shopping for food, or to get to a doctor’s appointment if we can drive a car for them. Veterans can be members of the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and we can also mail them a car or just say “hi.” Another way we can say thank you is to ask about their experiences and listen to their stories.

We are very thankful and proud of the people who serve in our military and want to say thank you for all of your bravery, hard work and sacrifice.

By Colton Mowers

second place

The right time to honor our military heroes is now and always. We can all honor them by doing generous acts like saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day and hanging the American flag in front of your house. Acts like these show that we are grateful for our country that they have and still are fighting so hard for. Some of the things I do to show honor are saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day and praying for the soldiers who are in Iraq.

Some of the important dates to honor military heroes are Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the Fourth of July. On Memorial Day, you can honor the soldiers by attending services at cemeteries where they have a gun salute and they have a speaker. Then you can visit the grave of a family member who has died serving our country. That’s what my family does. On Veterans Day you remember all of the people who have served in the military. On the Fourth of July you celebrate the independence of the United States. This independence would not be possible without our military heroes.

It is important to honor our veterans often because they don’t wait for special days to defend our country, so we shouldn’t wait for special days to honor them.

Every day we get to enjoy the benefits of freedom such as making our own decisions like voting, working and living where we want to live and freedom of speech. Both my grandpas and my brother served in the military forces so honor veterans has a special meaning to me and my family. I am very thankful that none of them has lost his life while serving our country. There are many families that have not been as lucky as I am. They have lost their loved ones in wars. Those families deserve our prayers and respect.

Since our military heroes defend our country every day, they deserve to be honored and remembered every day. God bless America and our military heroes!

By Hallie Cantu

third place

When is the time right to honor our military heroes? You can honor them on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, any time you see a military hero, every day, or whenever you want.

Memorial Day is a day when we honor all of the soldiers who lost their lives in the wars. Veterans Day, Nov. 11, is when we honor our veterans and military. These days are good times to honor all of our military heroes.

Whenever you see a hero, you can always tell them how much you appreciate what they are doing for our country. We honor them because they sacrifice their lives for our freedom and so we can have a better life to live in. It’s amazing how brave all of our soldiers are.

On Memorial Day and Veterans Day is when most people honor our heroes. Sometimes when people see one in a uniform, out in stores, restaurants and other places, they sometimes buy them food, or they go up and shake their hand and thank them for everything they are doing to make our country a better place to live in.

When they go fight in the war they have to leave their wives, children, pets and other family members. That is why we should always honor our military, because they have to leave their families, and they are doing so much for our country. Every day we should think about how grateful we are to have people like our military that will go out there and give up their lives for us. Some soldiers don’t even get to see their families ever again because they lost their lives.

A lot of soldiers lost their lives in the wars, and still do. That is why we have Memorial Day. We have wars going on all over the world and we know that our soldiers will always stay strong.

From my experience, of stories from relatives who have served, they said that it felt good knowing that they were doing something good for our country.

So when do we honor our military heroes? We honor them every day. Every day we should at least think about how lucky we are. We are so lucky to have soldiers who will give up their lives for our country’s freedom and for a better world.

Lakeview Elementary School

By Emma Iverson

first place

When my mom woke me up this morning and told me I had to get ready for church, I moaned at the thought of leaving my warm bed and going out into the cold day. As we sat in church together listening to our pastor, he asked us to say a special prayer for our men and women who are at war right now. At that moment, many thoughts raced through my mind. I realized that I take so many things for granted — like sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed, choose what foods I feel like eating, and spending time with my friends and family. Soldiers don’t have these privileges. They have to sleep in a strange place, eat the food that is given to them, and have to be far away from their family and friends, as well as being in danger.

I think we should not only appreciate our veterans on special days like Memorial Day or Veterans Day, but every day. I’m sure many people, myself included, don’t think about then and the sacrifices they have had to make going to war as often as we should. I think it is important to remember what they have done for us and our country.

It is almost unbelievable that over 3.9 million U.S. veterans have died. These courageous men and women served their country in past U.S. wars and currently in Iraq. Those who have fought and made it back have been injured both mentally and physically. They risked their lives to keep us safe and our country safe. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men, and so it be must daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

This saying reminds me to say a prayer for those who are currently fighting in the war right now to keep us safe, and to appreciate all who fought in the past of our freedom.

By Annika Jensen

second place

Our military works hard for us every day, no matter the weather, if they are tired, even if they are hurt. So why should we stop honoring them when we have everything we need right in front of us?

Just by saving the Pledge of Allegiance every day is better than nothing. We can do a little and it will help our military a lot. One thing we do without even thinking is take a long, hot shower. I bet everyone in our military would just love a minute in a hot shower. So to help those dreams come try we can send them baskets with shampoo and soap. In those baskets we could also put a toothbrush, toothpaste, a razor and so much more. I bet just by doing that it would make a lot of people feel honored.

When should do this, though? We could do this every day. There are two days that we should especially honor them. Those two days are Independence Day and Veterans Day. On Independence Day we honor our freedom and without them we shouldn’t have any freedom. On Veterans Day it is a whole day set aside just to honor them. So don’t we think we should use it and make them cards or even just say thank you? Another time to say thank you is, well, every day. They don’t just fight for us two days out of the year, they fight for us all the time, so we need to give them our prayers all the time. Think if you were in the military. What day would you want to be honored? One day I would want to be honored is Christmas because think how hard it would be to be away from your family. I think we need to honor them on that day for staying strong and not giving up. So please honor our military every time you get a chance, and please honor them more on Independence Day, Veterans Day and Christmas, because they need our support.