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Show nothing more. "I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol sym-bol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this nation. My stars and stripes are your dream and your labors. They art bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because be-cause you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the Flag and it is well that you glory in the making!" Milford Students Take Honors in District Auxiliary Essay Contest Milford school students competing com-peting in the American Legion Auxliary Essay Contest were awarded first place in the sen-- sen-- ior divsion district contest, and "N first and second places in the junior division. All three essays have been forwarded to Salt Lake where they will compete with winners in Utah's nine Legion Le-gion districts. The essays follow: and cynically I play the coward. cow-ard. "Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts ' judgment. But always I am all that you hope to be, and hav the courage to try for!" "I am song and fear, struggle and panic and ennobling hope. "I am the day's work- of the weakest man and the largest dream -of the most daring. ''I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes, and the statute-makers; soldier and dread-naught, dread-naught, drayman and street sweep, cook., counselor, and clerk. Junior Division District 7 First Placa OUR FLAG THE LIVING EMBLEM OF OUR NATION By Susan Bell "For years and years I have waved o'er my people. O'er land and sea, o'er church tower and steeple. Oh my America! Oh my America! Proudly I wave o'er thee, sweet land of liberty:" I have seen the wonderful glories "I am the battle of yesterday and the mistake of tomorrow. "I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. "I am the clutch of an idea and the reasoned purpose of resolution. res-olution. "I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you believe I can be. "I am what you make me, of mountain range and river, of grassy plains and . towering sky scrapers. I have waved in summer sum-mer breezes or in autumn winds or hung in the chill of winter. I am the power and glory and honor of millions of Americans who look upon me as their symbol. sym-bol. I am the meaning of national nation-al unity and devotion of brave men and women who will fight for their lives, for their honor, and for their ideals which are dear to their hearts. I tell of struggle 'for independence which was finally won and accepted. I tell of liberty and of a nation working and living in union. Under my banner Washington was defeated, but also defeated many battles. I waved over Valley Val-ley Forge through the cold, freezing winter, along with the cold, hungry, and starving men. Burgoyne was foolishly defeated and made to lay down arms before be-fore me. Nathan Hale fought and stood for what I symbolize. The states of America were founded and declared free under my stripes and stars. President Lincoln put his faith in me to prove all men are equal. He harkened to my cause when man's rights of human equality, were being threatened in the south. Yea, I remember those who rallied forth from the north willing to sacrifice their lives for those things for which I stand. I went forth with the pioneers to the edge of civilization on the frontier. Westward I went, ever westward, to settle those Rocky Mountains and Pacific shores and to make and build a strong land. I discovered gold with the gold seekers in 1849 and watched the stalwart pioneers fight the Indians, In-dians, even to death, to claim the land, which each believed to be his own. I watched the dead being buried in Flanders Field. Row upon row of gallant soldiers Continued on next page boy who worked in the swelter of yesterday straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead home-stead in Idaho, or perhaps you 'ound the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, cr helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier sol-dier in Utah. No matter; whichever which-ever one of these beneficent individuals in-dividuals you may happen to be, I give you greetings, Mr. Flag-'naker." Flag-'naker." I was, about to pass on, when the Flag stopped me with these v.'Ords: "Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of 10 million peons in Mexico, but that act looms no larger on the . flag than the struggle which the boy in Georgia Geor-gia is making to win the corn club prize this summer. "Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska; but a moth-! moth-! er worked from sunrise until far into the -night to give her boy an education. She, too, is making mak-ing the flag. "Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our race. We are all making the flag." "But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working." work-ing." Then came a great shout from the flag: "The work that we do is the making of the flag. I am not the flag, not at all; I am but it9 shadow. I am whatever you make me, nothing more. I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become. be-come. I live in changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks and tired muscles. "Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting the rails together truly. Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, Senior Division District 7 First Placj OUR FLAG THE LIVING EMBLEM OF OUR NATION By Ronald Simpkins , Every nation uses a special flag to represent its unity and independence. A nation's flag stands for the gains, hopes, and ideals of its people. In its own land, a flag commands the honor and love of its citizens; abroad it is respected as the emblem of a self-governing people. This morning, as I passed the land office, the Flag dropped me a most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: "Good morning, Mr. Flag-Maker." "I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? mis-taken? I am not the President of the United States, nor a member mem-ber of Congress, nor even a general in the army. I am only a schoolboy." "I greet you again, Mr. Flag-maker," Flag-maker," replied the gay voice. "I know you well. You are the HERE'S MORE ABOUT ESSAYS Continued from preceding page were laid to rest in their fight for freedom's light; they are still lying there beneath my crimson, crim-son, blue, and while. Almost everywhere I travel, to the four corners of the earth, on ships, by plane, and along a weary road with tired marching march-ing soldiers. How proud I am that I was raised on Iwo Jima as a symbol of strength and liberty. Proudly Proud-ly I wave o'er those brave men who courageously pushed my colors toward the sky. In victory I stand there on that small Pacific Isle." I fly over the school in Little Rock. How I love those students stu-dents who mingle together as one. I am one o'f the many flags flying in freedom's breeze striving striv-ing with other nations to promote pro-mote world peace. I hope my nation is as proud as I to be one of the United Nations. I like the friends I find there. Indeed America stretches her hand to nations weak and strong just the same. I am not done. There are cities to build, spaceships to launch, people to liberate, to feed and to clothe, and better education to strive for. I will truly be proud to always al-ways wave o'er America and its people. God Bless America! Land of the free! |