'Voice of Democracy' Essayists Honored

In her award-winning essay, high school senior Emily Brett drew on a personal experience. In the daily school routine of pledging allegiance to the flag, she noticed two students in her homeroom who refused to rise from their chairs.

What she discovered, in the process of writing about it, was that her anger gave way to her pride in understanding the full meaning of life in a democracy. She realized that the sacrifices made by those who serve is unconditional; they include even those who, for personal or philosophical reasons, choose not to stand and salute our flag.

Her essay earned her first place in the District 6 Voice of Democracy competition, an annual national VFW contest sponsored locally by several VFW Posts. Emily, a senior at Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School, was joined by a dozen of her peers Sunday – including honorable mention award-winners Crystal Devoe and Oakley Smith, both of Merrimack – for an awards banquet, all recognized for their written response to the question, "Is there pride in serving your country?"

Promoting patriotism has always been at the heart of the VFW. And for as much as things have changed over recent years at local VFW Posts, the more they stay the same.

"I buried five this year. A lot of our members are dying and it's difficult to get the younger veterans in here," said James Clemons, former commander of Bedford Post 8401.

Greg Lynch, Senior Vice Commander at Nashua Post 483, said it's unfortunate that the uninitiated still think their local VFW posts are a place where old veterans go to drink cheap beer.

"Our state theme this year is 'Service With Pride," and that applies not only to our military service, but in encouraging patriotism in the next generation of Americans," Lynch said

Selma Naccach-Hoff, a Central High School teacher who had three student finalists in this year's competition, said she encourages her World Literature students to participate each year.

"One of the things I notice is that when they read about war in the newspaper, it's removed from them. Part of what we study in literature are ancient wars, from a literary perspective. This rhetorical contest becomes a nice segue; they can see that war is comprised of people who sacrifice on many levels," Naccach-Hoff said.

Mark McCabe, Commander of VFW Post 10722 in Pelham, said New Hampshire did well in this year's competition.

"Our state winner, Lucas Lascala of Keene, placed fifth nationally. That's out of 40,000-50,000 entries from around the country," said McCabe.

Along with the high school essayists, Kip Arsenault, an eigth-grader from Hollis/Brookline Middle School, was in attendance, honored for taking first place in the middle school version of the competition, Patriot's Pen, placing 26th nationally out of  about 150,000 entrants.

District 6 winners:

First Place: Emily Brett, Wilton Lyndeborough Cooperative School, sponsored by Bedford Post 8401;

Second Place: Susan Gunther, Manchester Central High School, sponsored by Queen City Memorial Post 8214 and Ladies Auxiliary;

Third Place: Matthew Becker, Manchester Central High School, sponsored by Queen City Memorial Post 8214 and Ladies Auxiliary;

Fourth Place: Erika Campbell, Pelham High School, sponsored by Pelham Post 10722 and Ladies Auxiliary;

Honorable Mention:

Oakley Smith, Bishop Guertin High School, sponsored by Merrimack Post 8641 and Ladies Auxiliary;

Ryan Champiny, Windham High School, sponsored by Pelham Post 10722;

Meaghan Mealey, Manchester Central High School, sponsored by Queen City Memorial Post 8214 and Ladies Auxiliary;

Heather Gibson, Alvirne High School, sponsored by Hudson Post 5791;

Sarena Patel, Milford High School, sponsored by Milford Post 4368;

Crystal Devoe, Merrimack High School, sponsored by Merrimack Post 8641 and Ladies Auxiliary.

For more on Voice of Democracy and other state essays, click here.