Ian Hartman wins 10th Grade Essay Contest

My grandpa was in the Navy for a long time. He fought in the Vietnam War and was honored for serving the United States of America. My grandfather got leukemia from toxic gasses that were in the air during the war. He is a disabled Veteran, according to the “Veterans Association.” My grandfather sacrificed his life to protect the country that he calls home. By sacrificing his life, his life will never be the same. He must get skin grafts every time because he got radiation burns. What it means to sacrifice yourself is to risk your life for one’s benefit. Being in the military is a very big sacrifice and should and will be honored. Those who sacrificed their lives in the military are completely selfless. Veterans show and receive honor all the time but being honored is different from showing honor. When you’re a veteran, you show honor to your family, friends, and country by risking your life for them. When veterans get thanked for their service, they feel as if the time that they served was well used. I asked my dad and grandfather what it feels like to be thanked for their service, and they said, “it feels like my time wasn’t wasted while I was deployed.“ In all, veterans deserve a lot. Veterans deserve to be honored for their sacrifice to the United States of America. If veterans did. not serve in the military, we would not be the independent country that we are today. Veterans deserve to be thanked for what they have done for the United States of America.