Happy Memorial Day!

I thought it would be appropriate today to share with you a paper that Clayton wrote this year for a writing contest at school. The contest was sponsored by the VFW. Students were supposed to explain why veterans should be honored, but they were not allowed to write about personal experience or family members. As a proud mother, I also want to share that Clayton won 1st place for this paper. I am including the paper in this post as a means of saying "Thank You" to all of the people who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms. I especially want to thank my family members who have and are still serving in the military. I am so proud to be apart of a family that loves this country and is willing to fight to protect it. So, here it is...

They Deserve to be Honored
By: Clayton Mauldin


I think we should honor our veterans because they risked their lives for us. They fought for what they knew was right. It started with the Revolutionary War, when we won our independence from Britain. Most of our army was made up of volunteers. Then we fought the Civil War where America split, and we fought against ourselves. Then in the world wars, we aided the Allies, the defenders of the weak. Since we won our independence, America has been a role model for the rest of the world, and we would not be here if it were not for our veterans.

In the Revolutionary War, we won our independence from Britain. The soldiers gave their lives so we could be free. Most of our army was made up of townspeople. Those people were very brave and very patriotic. We would not be here today if it were not for these people. They deserve to be honored.

In the Civil War, America split, the North against the South. Both sides fought for what they believed was right. The United States has always been fighting for what it believes is right. In this case the North and the South disagreed. In the end, the North won the war, reuniting our nation. Consequently, these soldiers deserve to be honored.

World War II was a hard time for our country. At first, our country tried to stay out of the conflict. Unfortunately, the war came to us at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese caught us off guard and killed thousands of U.S. troops. We had to fight back, so we began to aid the Allies. We sent soldiers and supplies into Europe. Our soldiers went into foreign countries and battled the Nazis. These troops helped save the world from being over run by the Nazis. They deserve to be honored.

Today, we have troops overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are still fighting for freedom. All of our veterans from 1775 until 2008 have been fighting so that we could be free. The founding fathers had a dream of freedom, and they worked until it became a reality. We are still fighting today to keep that dream alive. All our veterans have risked their lives so that we could enjoy the same freedom as they have. They deserve to be honored.