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When Caitlin Hutchison started work on a Patriot’s Pen essay, it was just another writing assignment for the busy start of eighth grade at Kaiserslautern Middle School.
Across town, Chloe Rasic wondered what she’d write for a Voice of Democracy speech, so she bounced ideas off fellow Ramstein High School freshmen.
Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsors Patriot’s Pen, a national writing contest for middle school students, and the Voice of Democracy, an audio-essay contest for high school students.
The assignments, however, compete with lots of things on teens’ minds: reuniting with friends after summer, starting fall sports like soccer and football, plus the challenges returning to academia. Still, dozens of teens in the KMC found time to enter VFW essays this year.
For Patriot’s Pen, students had fewer than 400 words to discuss the theme “Does Patriotism Still Matter,” a topic that’s right before their eyes.
As Caitlin began writing, she thought about her father, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, whose Army missions often kept him away from home. She thought of wounded troops she’s seen at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. She thought about how she’s seen acts of selfless service, often readily apparent in a U.S. military community overseas.
“Most people don’t get to see that. They don’t know,” she said. “It makes you proud to see all these people willing fight for their country and do things in their life to make our world better.”
Locally, the contests are sponsored by Kaiserslautern VFW Post 10614.
“It’s one of our post’s ways of community involvement,” said retired Army Sgt. Maj. George Gilgore, post adjutant and quartermaster, who’s overseen the contest for the past decade. “These kids write some good essays.”
This year, post judges read 165 entries, selecting the top three entries for the KMC’s four middle schools: Ramstein, Sembach, Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl. Of those, 11 were advanced to the district level.
Caitlin’s essay won first place for her school. Once judged at district and state levels, her writing advanced to the national competition. The first-place prize includes a $10,000 savings bond, plus a trip to Washington.
“It’s now being judged against entries from each of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., the Pacific region and the Caribbean,” Sergeant Major Gilgore said.
Begun in 1947, the Voice of Democracy program also gives students a chance to voice their opinion on an annual patriotic theme. This year’s topic was “Does My Generation Have a Role in America’s Future.”
Rasic’s friends at Ramstein figured the answer would be easy, she said. But she wondered what her generation will do if our world drastically changed in the near future.
“A lot of people stuck to the idea that it’s inevitable that we’ll have a role,” she said. “I wanted to explore the possibility that we won’t.”
She is among the finalists now competing for a $30,000 college scholarship. In early March, Chloe heads to Washington, for the finals. In late March, all the KMC winners will be honored at an annual recognition dinner, Sergeant Major Gilgore said.
Chloe’s father, retired Maj. Clint Rasic, remembers recording his VFW essay onto cassette more than two decades ago. Chloe recorded hers into an iPhone, burning a disc using iTunes. She’s proud to be following in her father’s footsteps, she said.
“It’s the same competition,” she said. “It’s cool to see it lasted this long.”
WINNERS
Voice of Democracy
Kaiserslautern High School
1st place – Alexandra McGlough
2nd place – Camilla Middleton
3rd place – Emilie Clark
Ramstein High School
1st place – Ross Cowart
2nd place – Samantha Lefort
3rd place – Chloe Rasic
Patriot’s Pen
Kaiserslautern Middle School
1st place – Caitlin Hutchison
2nd place – Antwan Haynes
3rd place – Zacchaeus Wilson
Ramstein Middle School
1st place – Adrienne Hill
2nd place – Katherine Seebeck
Sembach Middle School
1st place – Conrad Goneya
2nd place – Christopher Swirea
3rd place tie – Deyza Mason
3rd place tie – Vanessa Todd
Landstuhl Middle School
1st place – Briana Dill
2nd place – Connor Dill
3rd place – Elijah Plasterer
