News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Price of Freedom

Date: November 10, 2001

"EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) - For youngsters living in the town where Veterans Day began, the price of freedom is much clearer now.

Like much of the rest of the nation, their views changed with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Their gratitude is greater for soldiers past and present.

"Americans more than ever have pulled together to fight terrorism and respect the veterans and soldiers because they understand freedom isn't free," said 12-year-old Erica Bennett.

As in countless other towns, flags and other patriotic symbols are sprinkled throughout this small, eastern Kansas community, from storefronts to front porches.

But patriotism has special meaning here, for this was the birthplace of Veterans Day.


Before 1954, Nov. 11 was Armistice Day, honoring World War I veterans. Merchant Alvin J. King led efforts to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day, and in 1953, Emporia was the first to celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

King persuaded U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also of Emporia, to push the idea through Congress, and Veterans Day became a national day of recognition in 1954.

This year's celebration is a weeklong tribute to veterans, with exhibits, speakers, parties, a USO show, plus a parade Saturday and a memorial tribute Sunday - Veterans Day.

There was also a children's essay contest, and Erica and two other top winners read their essays at an awards ceremony.

"What they were writing about was real life experiences, and they were speaking from the heart," said Liz Martell, director of the Emporia Convention and Visitors Bureau, who helped judge the essays. "I don't know if the students had the understanding last year of what war was, like they did this year."

"They were very moving, and the veterans were very touched," she said. "There were tears."

Erica wrote about her grandfather, a World War II prisoner of war in Germany and the harsh life he endured in the POW camp.

"To me, Veterans Day is a day we should respect and give our thanks to veterans and soldiers who risked their lives, jobs, families and many other things to maintain American freedom," she wrote.

Eighth-grader Nicole Taylor, another essay winner, wore a blue shirt with the New York skyline - with the World Trade Center towers rising above it. She looked at it with sadness.

"I always wanted to see the World Trade Center, but now I won't be able to," she said.

In her essay, she wrote: "Even though we are surrounded by the news of the current war, we rarely think of the soldier's perspective. Is this the day he will die? Is he mentally prepared for death or to cause the death of others?"

Like other students, Nicole and her friends talk about how life has changed since Sept. 11, when terrorists crashed four hijacked jetliners into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

"Since the attacks, you're walking in the dark and don't know where you're going," the 13-year-old said. "But the soldiers make you feel safe. It's reassuring there are people who care enough about the United States to defend it."

Seventh-grader Grant Carson, 13, also an essay winner, wrote of the veterans: "They did everything for our country and our beliefs. I do not know if I could be so brave."

At 84, Bob Ecklund knows firsthand about the price of freedom. A World War II pilot, his plane was shot down and he was prisoner of war in Europe.

What he read as he judged the students' essays made him feel proud.

"I think the country is in pretty good hands with them," he said. "They are on the right track."

By CARL MANNING, Associated Press Writer