Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Congratulating Wade Allen on placing fifth in District 2 in the Veterans of Foreign Wars oratorical scholarship contest, The Voice of Democracy.
Body
WHEREAS, the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Voice of Democracy scholarship program, created in 1947, is an audio-essay contest for high school students; and
WHEREAS, the contest is designed to foster patriotism by allowing students the opportunity to voice their opinion in a three- to five-minute essay based on an annual theme; and
WHEREAS, the theme of this year’s contest was “My Role in Honoring America’s Veterans”; and
WHEREAS, Wade Allen, a 14-year old freshman at LaFollette High School, wrote an essay that touched on the many things he has done to support United States troops overseas, including:
· Getting his Scout troop to join an “adopt-a-soldier” program;
· Collecting toiletries and shipping them to a logistics unit so they could properly supply a shower facility for combat soldiers; and
· Collecting and sending stuffed animals to an Army Warrant Officer who equipped them with parachutes and air dropped them from his helicopter to Iraqi children as part of a program the officer has named “Operation Teddy Drop”; and
WHEREAS, in his essay, Wade also expressed pride that he has been able to work toward a memorial honoring Sergeant Mark Maida, the first Madisonian killed in the Iraq War; and
WHEREAS, Wade stated that he intends to further honor America’s veterans by entering the Navy and that he plans to attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; and
WHEREAS, Wade also stated that it isn’t hard to honor our veterans, saying that the best way to do so is to become an involved citizen, to educate ourselves about the challenges facing our nation, and to know and exercise the rights our veterans have fought to defend for us; and
WHEREAS, Wade said that each time a person lends a hand to his community, votes in an election, takes part in our government or stan...
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