Bonduel students pay tribute to veterans

5 honor, define veterans in their essays
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

BONDUEL — Students in the Bonduel School District gave a variety of interpretations of what makes a veteran — the very people they gathered Monday to honor.

As part of the district’s annual tribute to area veterans, an essay contest was held to see who could write the best essay about the men and women who give up so much to fight for freedom. For some of the winning students, they know about veterans because family members, both close and distant, have gone into the military to protect the United States.

IzaBella Kuhn, a third grade student at Bonduel Elementary School, said there is an empty place at the dinner table in her home because her stepfather enlisted in the U.S. Army. She described the difficulty in saying goodbye over the summer as he went off to serve and the realization that her family would not be whole for some time.

“A veteran could be someone’s mom, dad, son or daughter or any other family member,” Kuhn said. “Many of their sacrifices are much bigger, and our veterans must be very brave to make these sacrifices.”

Kuhn concluded by saying, “I’m very proud to say that I have an empty seat at my table.”

Aliya Cynor, a sixth grade elementary student, noted that she has many veterans in her family, and they cover every branch of the Armed Forces except for the Navy.

“Veterans Day means a lot to me because I have so many family members in the different branches of the Armed Forces,” Cynor said.

Veterans Day is about remembering the living soldiers, she noted, as they still have sacrificed much of themselves in order for people like her to enjoy the freedoms of today. Whether injured or healthy, the “ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices” should be recognized for the risk they put on their lives by putting on a military uniform and fighting America’s enemies, she said.

“Just imagine the things we’d have to give up doing what these people did,” Cynor said, noting military sacrifices were nothing compared with her having to go to school and obey her parents. “They gave up their personal safety, their mental safety, their friends, their home and the overall routine of their daily lives.”

Adrian Ford, an eighth grade student from Bonduel Middle School, attempted to define what a veteran is, but noted it’s not always easy to put someone in that definition. In her mind, all veterans are heroes, regardless of the role they play in the military.

Anyone can be a veteran, according to Ford, as long as they have courage, integrity, patriotism, citizenship, commitment and self-sacrifice.

“A veteran can be a mom helping her kids with homework, a fellow co-worker or even a neighbor down the street,” Ford said. “Most people don’t see the veterans in the crowds, just normal people. Veterans don’t go waltzing around with their medals, bragging about their experiences. They are everyday heroes you may not recognize.”

Kaitlin Brooks, a Bonduel High School sophomore, said the definition of “veteran” in the dictionary doesn’t seem to do justice for those who have served in the military.

“A veteran is a hero, someone who puts their life on the line for others,” Brooks said. “A veteran is noble, brave and courageous. It is impossible to remain the same person when confronting death daily, and when they come back into their loving family’s arms, they must try to leave what they experienced on the battlefield behind.”

If it wasn’t for the military, the United States would not have been born, said Joseph Renner, a Bonduel junior. Since that time, the military has fought to keep the country in existence.

“Because of this, the United States is able to be a place of strength and prosperity,” Renner said. “Protecting the United States from harm has allowed all of its citizens to have the opportunity to flourish in the relative safety of the country. Every day, soldiers fight to keep us safe from threats unimaginable to many.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com