[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 81 (Thursday, June 23, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 JAMES WELLS WRITES FIRST PLACE ESSAY IN OLIVER WINCH DAR FLAG CONTEST

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                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 23, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, for more than 20 years, Nancy Vonic, 
English teacher at Oliver Winch Junior High School in South Glens 
Falls, NY, and with the help of the Jane McCrea Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, has assigned her seventh-graders 
to write essays about the American flag.
  I am proud to place the winning essays in today's Record, starting 
with the first place essay of James Wells, son of David Shearer of 56 
Saratoga Road in Gansevoort. Congratulations go out to James, and our 
grateful appreciation to Nancy Vonic and the Jane McCrea Chapter of the 
DAR.

                           The American Flag

                            (By James Wells)

       Everyone in America has a memory of the American Flag. Some 
     remember the Pledge of Allegiance. Others remember how their 
     ancestors came to America. But most of them think of what the 
     flag means to them.
       To me, the American flag stands for freedom, liberty, and 
     the country that I am proud to be a part of. I am proud of 
     the way the flag was made, showing both what we are, with a 
     star for each state, and what we were, with a stripe for each 
     of the original 13 colonies.
       I fill with pride when I see the colors of the flag, red, 
     white, and blue and what they stand for: courage, honor, and 
     high moral goals. Together, they stand for patriotism and 
     national pride.
       From the first animal skins strapped to poles, to the Union 
     Jack, flags have stood for not only a rallying point for 
     soldiers, but what the country stands for as well.
       Every time I see the flag, I am reminded of the 
     Revolutionary War, when we had to fight for our freedom. I am 
     also reminded of a statue of another war, when our troops 
     dropped their weapons to keep our flag from falling, for if 
     it did, then all of the men would have lost all hope because 
     that is what our flag meant to them.
       Flag Day is a day to celebrate the history of flag and 
     salute the morals and high goals it stands for. It should be 
     a celebration that the American flag has become what it is. 
     But most of all, it should be a reminder that we are all 
     lucky to live in a nation that is democracy, has freedom, and 
     gives you the right to be free, always.

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