Denver – How do we teach our children that their freedom is built on the backs of thousands of men and women who fought and died to ensure a stable future?
More than 218,000 American military soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are buried or memorialized at American cemeteries overseas. Why does it matter that we remember and honor them?
The future of the Free World depends on the next generation knowing what’s required to protect and sustain individual liberty. It’s too easy to take freedom for granted.
The ABMF Past is Prologue Essay Contest for students ages 11-18 is a unique vehicle to teach the relevance of the past to their future.
ABMF Director of Youth Engagement Sue Kenfield is available for an interview. Video 1:40 minutes. Sue’s background includes more than 20 years in corporate management and sales in the healthcare industry. Recently, before and during the Covid 19 pandemic, she served as interim executive director of a children’s home, which reinforced her belief that children want to learn and thrive.
Sue will discuss why the lessons of America’s foreign wars are relevant to today’s youth and give an overview of the ABMF Past is Prologue Essay Contest.
* $5,000 First Prize, $2,500 Second Prize, and $1,500 Third Prize will be awarded to the winners in each of the three age groups.
* Students are asked to answer two mandatory questions about what we can learn from a battle in WWI or WWII, and how it is relevant to their life today.
* Each student must have an adult editor to discuss the topic and their answers to the mandatory questions – and check spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Students may choose to write about one of three topics:
- American volunteer aviators of the WWI Lafayette Escadrille squadron whose daring maneuvers and innovative techniques changed aerial warfare;
- The brutal six-month WWII Battle of Guadalcanal that turned the course of the war in the Pacific theater; or,
- The WWII Operation Dragoon, which liberated the French ports of Marseille and Toulon.
Essays are due by November 1. Details and Application Form: Past Is Prologue Essay Contest – ABMF
The American Battle Monument Foundation is the official nonprofit partner of the American Battle Monuments Commission, the federal agency responsible for all 26 American military cemeteries and 32 monuments overseas. ABMF engages the public – especially younger Americans, to ensure that the sacrifices of Americans who fought to protect our freedoms, died, and are buried overseas, remain relevant, so that future generations may live in liberty.
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