Teresa Tellekamp - Winner of the 2011 VFW Voice of Democracy Essay Competition

2011 VFW Voice of Democracy Essay Competition

Essay Theme:    Is There Pride in Serving in Our  Military?

Teresa Tellekamp

Hauppague High School

A current of energy and excitement surged through the people lining the streets. I clutched my father’s hand and peered between the tree trunks of legs, trying to see what was coming from down the road. The clapping and cheering all around me amplified as cymbals crashed together. Then I heard what sounded like heavy rain beating down on a tin roof. The consistent rolling of sticks against the snare drums created a crisp, high-pitched sound that cut through the noise all around me. Mallets swung into the sides of the bass drums, and the steady rhythm reverberated against the brick walls of the apartment buildings. Through the gaps between the bodies huddled together, I could make out hundreds of stiff navy-blue legs, all marching as one.

Suddenly I felt two hands lift me high above the sea of people and onto a pair of familiar shoulders. I gasped and my eyes grew wide as they fell upon the men and women of the Marine Corps Marching Band. The silver trumpets held high in the air gleamed in the afternoon sunlight, and with every step, the shiny black boots struck the pavement all at once.

I was overwhelmed with an emotion I had never felt before. Now I can understand how the Marines maintained such composure, such diligence, and how they garnered such tremendous respect from the crowd. They marched together, united by one genuine, impenetrable feeling: pride.

            Although times and interests have changed, the pride in the United States military still remains the same admirable quality that contributes to everyday acts of heroism overseas and define our nation as the greatest in the world.

            “Pride as a soldier involves the saving of lives and the return for the fallen on the field of battle, even at the risk of one’s own life” said Barry Shatoff, a Vietnam War veteran. “Being a proud soldier means no other American soldier is ever left on the battle field.”

Shatoff sees pride displayed in the military in the way soldiers present themselves, how they support one another, and how they conduct themselves on and off the battlefield. That pride enables soldiers to fight terrorists and keep them from disrupting the way of life at home that is so often taken for granted.

“Soldiers reflect all that is good and wonderful in a strong and healthy nation,” Shatoff remarked.

“Pride is something that is deep inside each person. You can’t touch it or taste it, but you can feel it,” said Mario Yanneta, a combat veteran in Panama in 1989 and Iraq Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-91. “I feel proud to have served and represented my country around the world with honor and respect, as I was taught by the veterans before me.”

            Yannetta’s oldest son, Jimmy, followed his father’s footsteps. Jimmy is now a Marine combat veteran of Afghanistan, and shares the same pride and respect his father feels for this great country and for the armed forces.

            This year, like every year, I will march with my high school band for a local Memorial Day parade. We play the theme songs of each branch of the military. My favorite part about the parade is marching past war veterans who recognize their song and stand at attention with their hands over their hearts or against their forehead in a firm salute. That is pride in one’s country. That is pride in serving for the greater good of all Americans. That is pride, knowing they have won freedom and the right to pursue happiness for their fellow citizens.

            Last year, I noticed a young girl sitting on her grandfather’s lap. As my marching band halted in front of him, I noticed the man dab a tissue at the corners of his eyes. He sang along to the Army theme song loud and clear, and bounced his granddaughter up and down on his knee.

            The parade ended, and we boarded buses that brought us back to our high school. As I sat on the bus, I stared out my window and thought about that man and his granddaughter. I wondered if that little girl, while she watched me play my trumpet and tapped her feet to the beat of the drums, felt that same deep, indescribable emotion that I felt years ago when I was her age. I wondered if she understood what that feeling was, or why her grandpa was crying and singing at the same time.

            Someday she will. She will understand that the pride her grandfather possesses for the United States carried him through war and molded him into a role model for others to follow. Pride in the military is the determination to protect all with honor, valor, and love for one’s country and fellow man. The immense pride that existed and continues to live on in our military from yesterday and today is what sets the United States apart and lays the foundation for a safer, freer, tomorrow for all.