Essay by Lindsay Pankok
7th grade student of Alloway School
Alloway, N. J.
April 2000

How We Should Honor America's Veterans

Even though our country already honors its veterans in so many ways, we can still keep adding to the list. In Washington DC there are already monuments to honor those who served our country in foreign wars. These monuments are built to thank these special people. However, there is a lot more that we can do to honor our veterans than just building monuments.

One way to honor veterans is for the U.S. Post Office to print a line of stamps honoring those who defended our country in wars. These stamps could have photographs or hand-drawn art of veterans or scenes from the wars. Money from these stamps could benefit different veteran organizations. This would be a great way for our country to thank those who helped shape our country.

We could also have a yearly celebration in Washington DC. This celebration could involve live entertainment such as music and dancing. There could also be awards given out to the veterans who attend. The event would be televised, so that the whole country could take part in this event. Veterans and political figures could give speeches. There could be a special dinner for veterans. The celebration could be held on Veteran's Day and it would go on all day.

Another way to honor our veterans would be to have a museum exhibit about our war veterans. This exhibit could travel around the country to different major museums in the United States. This could serve as a tribute to the veterans, and as a way to educate America's people about what these wonderful people have done to make our lives' better. The exhibit could include a video, a live presentation, and posters or something visual. I think that this would make people aware of what the veterans did and therefore the public would appreciate the war veterans more.

I really believe that America's veterans should be honored in even more ways that they already are. I think these would be good ideas for tributes, presentations, and celebrations designed and planned out to honor our veterans. These ideas would really make our veterans feel proud of themselves and it would show that we are proud of them too. They really deserve a big thank-you.

If any of these ideas were used, I would be an active participant along with many others.