Kylee Hahn, a Hoisington Middle School eighth-grader, recently placed second in the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Fifth District Patriot’s Pen essay contest. Her essay was submitted by the Great Bend VFW and Auxiliary Post 3111 in Great Bend, said local auxiliary president Doug Fuhr.
The post received 120 Patriot’s Pen essays and 30 Voice of Democracy essays.
The district’s 2019 Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen essay contests were judged by Monette DePew from the Pratt Community College English Department.
The Voice of Democracy essay contest is for high school students and the Patriot’s Pen contest is open to students in grades 6-8. Hahn’s essay won at the local VFW post level and advanced to the regional level. She received a $75 Visa gift card from the district. This was matched with a $75 gift card from the VFW post in Great Bend and another $75 from the VFW post auxiliary in Great Bend.
Other local students whose essays were forwarded to the district competition were Deashia Cox, Vada Kaiser and Reese Merlau, all from Hoisington Middle School, and Makayla Burton from Central Kansas Christian Academy.
The complete list of winners includes:
2019 Voice of Democracy
1st - Malachi D. Feil, Haysville/Post/Aus/6957 - District award $100 Visa gift card and District pays for hotel room and banquet tickets at Mid-Winter Conference in Topeka
2nd - Maxwell J. Jones, Wichita/Post/Aux/3115 - District Award $75 Visa gift card
3rd - Natalie K. Downins, Derby/Post/Aux/ 7253 - District Award $50 Visa gift card
2019 Patriot’s Pen
1st - Katie Dawn Cooke, Wichita/Post/Aux 3115 - District Award $100 Visa gift card
2nd - Kylee A. Hahn, Great Bend/Post/Aux 3111, District award $75 Visa gift card
3rd - Grant K. Keily, Derby/Post/Aux 7253, District Award $50 Visa Gift card
Hahn’s winning essay is printed below:
What Makes America Great
What makes America great, you ask? I believe America is made great by the people. From the services that keep us safe to the early settlers who came here, to just small-town people trying to make a difference. America was built from the ground up, and it just keeps climbing the hill, yes we fall sometimes, but we get right back up and keep climbing.
To begin with, our services keep us safe and protect our freedoms. In fact, we have one of the most powerful militaries in the world. Our military is all people-based; it’s a job, not a requirement. Net everyone has to enlist. Our citizens that enlist in the military have the determination and courage to fight for our country and our freedoms.
Secondly, when the U.S. was first established the people who came and settled here built America up from nothing. They fought Great Britain, who had the most powerful military in the world at the time, with people of the colonies who volunteered to fight and they won our country. These men, women, and children were very strong and had many leadership qualities. The leaders in the colonies that fought for and declared our independence, started at the bottom of the hill and kept building America to be great.
Lastly, the overall people of America, not just the wealthy but the poor, too, are still shaping America. Our diversity makes us great, and the way we come together to solve problems makes us greater. We have many people who are kind and caring for others. They, care for our children and the elderly, send packages to our soldiers, and honor our veterans. We have scientists inventing new technology to make us more advanced, and conservationists trying to save our ecosystem.
America is made great by the many undertakings that the people accomplish here — fighting for our freedoms, strength, leadership, and what we do to help each other out. Harry S. Truman said, “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” I say, “America isn’t just made great by itself. America is made great by the hard-working people who believe that America can be great, and that’s exactly what we do, we Americans, make America great.”
