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For the second straight year, a Catholic elementary school student has earned top honors in a local Veterans Day essay contest.

St. Louis the King students in Glendale recite the pledge during the first day of school in 2007.

Andrew Johnson, an eighth-grader at St. Timothy School in Mesa, placed first in the junior high school category of the annual contest sponsored by the Phoenix VA Health Care System. His reflective essay on what “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave” meant to him was chosen from nearly 450 students at 38 schools throughout Arizona.

Johnson, alongside the first and second place winners in the elementary and high school categories, read their essays during an awards breakfast this morning at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom were in attendance.

After breakfast, the winners rode the Army National Guard’s Recruiter HMMWV to distribute all submitted essays to patients in the medical center.

Top winners also earned a $200 savings bond while runners up earned $150. The winners will ride on the Hall of Flame fire truck during the VA Veterans Day parade Nov. 11.

For the full essay, Here is what eighth grader Andrew Johnson wrote:

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble; courage is the foundation of integrity,” said author Keshvan Nair.  Courage is in everyone somewhere deep down inside.  But the people, whose courage reflects most on others, are the very courageous men and women who have served and are serving in the military.

The theme for the 2009 essay contest

The phrase the land of the free because of the brave means a lot to me.  For example, my grandfather was a B-17 pilot in World War II.  He went to war when he was 19 years old, but he died suddenly when he was 40.  Therefore, I never got to meet him.  However, his picture sits on our entry way table.  I pass by his picture every day and wish that I had had the chance to know him and to hear his stories.

Those who go to war leave everything behind, friends, family, their homes, maybe any pets they cared about, everything.  Also the term “free” means that we are in a very safe and prosperous land because of the people who went off and fought in war, who protested for freedoms, and for the colonists who made it possible for us to live in this great land.  I am a thirteen year old boy, and I have a great life.  I know that the freedom our veterans have secured for me is the freedom to follow my destiny.  There is no gift greater than that.  There are many people I have to thank for my life; my parents, God, and the courageous men and women in the United States military.

Andrew Johnson read his winning essay to St. Timothy School students in Mesa this week. (courtesy photo)

Courage really is the foundation of integrity.  Without courage, you have trouble socializing with people, standing up for yourself, and being willing to go out and do something helpful.  You are not complete without courage.  The American soldiers have integrity.  That does not mean that they can’t be scared to go into war.  I know I would be.  It means that they have the courage to protect the American people.

The national anthem is a great way of honoring those soldiers.  On the upcoming Veterans Day, I thank God for all the troops that have come home safely and thank them for the fact that we have such great lives here in the United States of America.

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble; courage is the foundation of integrity.”  With these words in mind, I am committed to honoring my grandfather and all the men and women who serve this country by living my life with integrity.