American Legion essay contest: What Memorial Day Means to Me

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COLFAX  — The Russell-Toycen Post 131 American Legion of Colfax held an essay contest this year on the subject of “What Memorial Day Means to Me.”

The first place winner, Paige Jensen, read her essay at the Memorial Day ceremony at Colfax Evergreen Cemetery on May 30.

Here is Paige’s essay, followed by the second place essay by Emilee Burcham-Scofield and the third place essay by Miranda Knutson.

Paige Jensen

Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have served our country. 

Having a loved one leave your home to go serve our country is hard, you never know if they will come back and there is always that “what if” feeling in your gut.

For one to be so brave to put their life at risk in order to fight for a better tomorrow is unimaginable. There is so much pain an individual and their loved ones go through. Fortunately, they fought with all they had and gave their all for people they do not even know because they knew it was something that needed to be done.

Memorial Day is a day to remind our country of how we got to where we are today. If it was not for those soldiers who sacrificed their all, then there would be no freedom or peace for us.

Those who served deserve every ounce of respect and more from our country. I feel strongly about the honor and remembrance of those who have served our country because I have people very close to me who have served. I am more than proud to say that I have a line of family members who have fought for our country, one of which is my sister.

She has been the biggest influence on me and has given me a different perspective on life. She taught me to respect others and to be thankful. She has given me a reason to be thankful for those who have served because before her, I never knew how hard it was to see a loved one leave to serve our country.

Now I know the fear and worry serving our country causes.

When she was away, we would write each other letters, and I have kept them to this day. I missed her tremendously and asked every day when she was coming home.

Many tears were shed and many nights were filled with fear of her not coming back home.

There are videos of people on the Internet being surprised by soldiers coming home. I would watch them in awe and just wish my sister would come back home. I never pictured the moment being so pure and amazing until one day in fifth-grade year.

I was sitting at the lunch table with my friends like any other day when all of a sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

My first thought was, “uh, oh. I’m in trouble.”

But as I turned around, there was not a teacher behind me, it was my sister who had finally returned home.

I jumped into her arms and could not believe it was her. The tears started almost instantly, and everyone was in awe. I was so happy to finally see my sister again and to know she was safe.

Having the experience with terror and the joy of having a family member who served our country, has made me beyond thankful for those who have served.

Memorial Day truly is a special and honorable day. Both men and women have walked into war not knowing if they are coming out alive.

Having the bravery to fight for freedom is selfless and truly amazing. 

Memorial Day to me is not only a day to honor those who sacrificed everything they had, but also a reminder to be thankful for those individuals every single day. They fought long and hard for days on end for me and others. 

So to me, Memorial Day is not just one day, it is every day.

Those who have served our country deserve respect and remembrance every day of the year.

Emilee Burcham-Scofield

Memorial Day is known across the nation as a day in which we pay respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

What does it mean to me?

I think it’s important to go back to how I originally viewed Memorial Day. During elementary school, it was always a day to get out of class and sit next to friends.

I’ll never forget when I was in fifth grade and I was asked to speak on the same question. I was excited about the wrong reasons, never really taking the time to focus on what the day was. I was more excited about speaking and singing in front of everyone than actually commemorating the day. 

The time came when I eventually reached middle and high school.

I vividly remember the time in which the meaning of this day became clear to me. I was sitting in a Veterans Day program my freshman year. We had just got done playing the music of each branch [of the military].

Mr. Yingst talked about all of the wars and those veterans who served in each. I don’t remember the speech or even who was celebrated, but I do remember when it came time to talk about fallen soldiers.

As I looked out into the crowd I saw all of the veterans. What I didn’t see was smiles or happy remembrance. I saw sorrow, tears, exhaustion and mourning. All of these seemingly regular people reliving the horrors they have been through involving the loss of comrades and family. 

That is when it hit me, sitting there in my chair. You always see the obituaries or Facebook, yet it never really registers.

All of these faces were people who had a family, possibly kids, pets, a life outside the military. Yet they thought we were good enough. They believed in us. They loved us enough to lay down their lives, to leave their spouses, kids, pets, parents, cousins.

Everyone has or will be affected by the loss of a service member. But what Memorial Day means to me is not simply acknowledging their sacrifice. It is embracing it, thanking those who had to suffer because of the loss, and never forgetting the faces of those who not only loved their country enough but loved each imperfect citizen enough to fight for me and you and lay down their lives so that I could stand before you today.

To conclude, Memorial Day means a day to mourn the loss of family and friends. 

But most importantly, Memorial Day is a day to remember what our country has sacrificed to preserve our freedom.

We are in a time of uncertainty and fighting. I am grateful to live in a country where I am allowed to question the laws and ideals set forth by the leaders of today.

I know that I can question these things without fear of my life being in danger or the thought of being imprisoned by my country.

Miranda Knutson

Memorial Day is an important day of the year and we take time to celebrate the remembrance of the men and women who serve our country.

The meaning is to remember what they have done for us.

To me, Memorial Day is about remembering all of the lives that were lost. As I have gotten older I have realized that Memorial Day is not all about the candy at the parades or the wonderful times. It means more than that. Freedom would not have been possible without them serving the country.

Some people fail to notice the fact that thousands of men and women go out to war and risk their own lives just to protect other people’s lives that they do not know. 

I want to thank you for going out and risking your life every day fighting at war. It takes someone who has the courage to stay away from their family for a long period of time, and you do these things every day, I am very grateful for that.

Before you fight in a war you have lots of things you have to be willing to give up for a long period of time like staying away from your family, going to faraway places and even risking your own life. Those things are not easy to do. It takes a very special person to do this for our country. 

The history of Memorial Day — Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and occurred every year on May 30.

The Civil War which ended in the spring of 1865 claimed more deaths than any other war in 

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U.S. history and now it required the first national cemeteries in the country.

By the late 1860s, Americans had begun holding tributes in the springtime to all the fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and flags.

After World War I, Decoration Day started to expand to honor all American wars. In 1938, it became a national holiday and therefore, it became commonly known as Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen soldiers. It is also important to remember what they have done for us.