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Show Auxiliary Essays Win Praise Of Contest Judges EDITOR'S NOTE: Rating high in the American Legion Auxiliary essay contest were several excellent excel-lent essays from Mrs. Lenore Hutching?' English classes. This week Carol Ann Nielson's essay is being published, which is very timely during the week when we pay tribute to our forefathers and loved ones who made it possible for us to enjoy our freedom. During Dur-ing the July 4th week, the essay of Barbara Sutteer, eighth grade, will appear in this paper. KNOW AND PRESERVE OUR AMERICAN HERITAGE I Carol Ann Nielson - 8th Grade The basic begininng of our American heritage occurred very early in the history of man. His appetite for fredom, even though nearly lost at times, has always been prominent in the plans he made for his future. Freedom from oppression, from want, from fear and freedom to worship have always motivated man's most noble thoughts in his efforts to improve his way of life. Freedom to enjoy these inherent inher-ent rights was the main objective that our forefathers sought after, sacrificed for, and finally established estab-lished as the" foundation of our American way of life. Time is dimming the personal hardships, the rjain and the cost that our forefathers assumed and overcame over-came in the great struggle to es- taoiisn democracy. However, me spirit and principle that they strove for is ours today. We are guardians of the results of man's most noble efforts and his greatest great-est achievements. What is our responsibility in preserving this heritage? What are the known and hidden dangers that could force us into a way of life not much different from the oppression of the Dark Ages? In recent years great nations in the world have established governments gov-ernments and a way of life on the same basic principle as ours. Yet they, for some reason, are again under the yoke of oppression. oppres-sion. We cannot feel that we are immune im-mune to the things that caused other people to lose their freedom. We must recognize the dangers and combat them. We must know that the sponsors of these dangers are clever. They are often disguised disguis-ed to make us believe they are harmless, or even more dangerous danger-ous than that, that they are an improvement over the basic principles prin-ciples of our government. Let's look toward Germany, Italy, It-aly, Russia, or China for clues as to what can cause the loss of freedom. In each case the results were similar and the causes were the same. The results are that one man, or a small group of men, gain control of the power of government. gov-ernment. Their ideas become the law and their demands become the goal of the people. These causes, although they may appear in various ways, can be sumamrized to a single statement. state-ment. When enough people of a nation shed their responsibilities as a citizen, put loyalty out of the door, climb into a bed of apathy and turn out the light of good citizenship, truly night will come. |