Editor’s note: This insightful piece was the winning 7th grade essay in the annual Whiteside County 6th through 8th grade competition, addressing “What a Veteran Means to Me.”
May 5, 2014 Veteran Essay
by Preston Behrens
A veteran is kind of like a superhero to me. They saved the world from turmoil and destruction. They risked their lives to save others. Some are old, and some are young. But no matter what their age is, they deserve respect and honor, because they have all served for the good of our country.
Not all veterans have seen bloody battles or have been close to death, but they have all made some sort of sacrifice to serve. They might have had to move far away from their families or go through months of hard training. We get to sleep soundly in our beds, because those brave men and women fought for our freedom and for our lives.
Football players get paid millions for protecting a ball, while our war veterans get paid very little for protecting our country. Some veterans even live on the streets begging for pennies, just so they can have one meal. It is the veterans that should live in luxurious mansions, not movie stars and sports players. Unemployment is just one of the challenges and sacrifices some veterans have to face.
Many veterans come back injured beyond repair, both physically and mentally. There are things in war that no man, women, or child should have to see or do, but some of our veterans have had to do those things. Some might have had to watch innocent people die or might [have] had to watch their fellow soldiers die on the battlefield. These kinds of things can have a toll on the mind and the body.
Our veterans go through all of these things for the sake of freedom, and we owe them our lives for what they do.