Memorial Day essay contest winners

All winners will be recognized and presented awards during Torrington’s Memorial Day ceremony Monday.

“What Do We Owe To Those Who Stand Between Us and Our Enemies?” By Jenna L Lackey

The Torrington Veterans Support Committee recently announced the winners of the 9th annual Memorial Day Essay Competition. The competition was open to all high school students who reside in Torrington without regard to which school they attend, including home-schooled students.

All of the winners will be recognized and presented their awards during Torrington’s Memorial Day ceremony which follows the parade on Monday.

This year’s theme is: “What do we owe to those who have served, and why?”

The winners of the 2017 Competition are:

1st Place: $100, Jenna L. Lackey, junior, The Buxton School. She will participate in the parade, riding in a car arranged for her by the committee.

2nd Place: $75, Jacob Reynolds, senior, Torrington High School

3rd Place: $50, Brian Bassler, junior, Torrington High School

Honorable Mention: Brandon Stater, senior, Torrington High School. The Honorable Mention Award is a Pen valued at $37 that is handmade by Marine veteran Tony Boucino owner of “As the Wood Turns.”

“Thank you for your service.”

It is a common phrase that we use to thank those who have stood as a barrier between us and those who intend on doing us harm.

But is a quick thank you in the grocery store or a movie theater discount all we owe to those who have served? There seems to be growing disconnect between those who have served in the military and the rest of society, which is reflected in the overused phrase, “Thank you for your service.”

For many veterans, the transition from military life back to common civilization is not easy. Unfairly high unemployment, suicide and homeless rates stalk a profuse amount of veterans. Though we supposedly have a massive amount of government programs solely designed to help and serve veterans, it often only works for some, is taken advantage of, and leaves too many behind.

So what do we truly owe our veterans? What do we owe to the injured and disabled? And what do we owe to the families who have lost someone?

There is no greater time of patriotism than during times of war. Americans place these warriors on pedestals while battles rage, and express great amounts of gratitude.

But when the guns fall silent, a forgetfulness replaces the genuine thankfulness.

Veterans not only have to fight for their own lives and the freedom they represent, but also for the benefits they have earned when they return. The rate of receiving these benefits has less and less to do with the countries’ moral compass, and more to do with the political circumstances at the time. When large numbers of veterans have returned, especially people who were drafted, the support offered is enormous.

However, when veterans do not represent a large percentage of the population, their needs seem to be drowned out. America has had an unfortunate history of doing this.

During the American Revolutionary War, both congress and state issued “debt certificates” to the soldiers, which were essentially glorified IOU’s, in lieu of payment when the war became too expensive.

When the war ended, however, America was unable to satisfy the debt owed to its soldiers. Some soldiers, in sheer desperation, sold these certificates for literal pennies on the dollar. The soldiers that had fought for their lives and the lives of the American people were fighting yet another battle — this time, to survive at home.

Though not through means of payment, the pattern of injustice to our veterans has continued well past WWII, which was thought to have ended with the G.I Bill of Rights.

Though the VA tries to help, the program seems to have strayed, leaving far too many veterans alone in the dark. An alarming rate of veterans lose their lives — lives that they put of the line to protect us, waiting for help. Help from the country which they fought for, and help they will never receive.

So one must ask, how do we help them? How do we truly and genuinely thank them for their service?

We must start but giving them what they need; our help and support. Our veterans have earned the right to be given proper health care for the illness that plague them, such as PTSD and sleeping disorders.

They deserve programs that help them re-integrate into the less intense civilization that each of them wants to return to. They deserve the similar programs that help them stay in homes and off the streets.

And for the families that have sacrificed a son, daughter, mother, or father, they deserve groups to help ease their pain and honor their loved one.

As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have.”