[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9525-9526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MINNESOTA POETRY CONTEST WINNERS

 Mr. FRANKEN. Madam President, today I am proud to enter into 
the Record the poems of the winners of the 3rd Annual Minnesota 
Military Children's Poetry Contest. The theme of this year's 
competition was ``Celebrating the Veteran in My Life.'' Each of the 
poems submitted by a Minnesota child paid tribute to the men and women 
who have honorably served and have had a profound impact on the lives 
of children and families in Minnesota and across our great Nation. 
Seventy students from kindergarten, middle and high school submitted 
entries for this year's contest. There were three age categories for 
the competition--Kindergarten through 6th grade, 7th through 9th grade, 
and 10th through 12th grade--and nine poems were chosen as the winning 
entries.
  I want to thank all the students from across Minnesota who helped us 
honor our veterans for their commitment and service. I also want to 
recognize and thank the judges of this year's contest: the Adjutant 
General of the Minnesota National Guard, MG Richard Nash; Minnesota 
commissioner of veterans affairs Larry Shellito; Minnesota commissioner 
of education Brenda Cassellius; and Minnesota poet laureate Joyce 
Sutphen.
  I ask that nine winning poems from the 3rd Annual Minnesota Military 
Children's Poetry Contest be printed in the Record.

                            ``Delvin Menze''

                            (By Riley Menze)


                          1st Place Grades K-6

     A little boy turned two,
     The day Pearl Harbor went boom!
     You could call him my grandpa,
     You could call him my friend,
     You could say his job wasn't that great,
     I'd say it was more awesome than cake.
     Without him, the crew might've starved,
     But they lived through the night,
     Have you guessed it yet?
     Yep, he was an Army cook.
     He might slice potatoes all day,
     Or make soup to warm cold souls,
     But he is the greatest,
     The greatest beyond great.
     Today he's a farmer,
     A dairy farmer to be exact,
     Lives with his wife in the countryside,
     Of a little town called Ottertail.
     He taught me to milk cows,
     Or feed romping heifers,
     To drive tractors, four-wheelers,
     Plus snowmobiles too.
     You could call him my grandpa,
     You could call him my friend,
     Either way, he's better than a king,
     And worth more money than the world.
                                  ____


             ``Thank You to the Great Veterans in My Life''

                       (By Sebastian Carlo Cerda)


                          2ND Place Grades K-6

     He is the oldest veteran I know
     He is the oldest veteran I love
     He is my Lolo, how Filipino grandpas are called
     Philippines is where he was born
     and where he served in World War II
     He was with the U.S. Army
     Lolo only has three toes on one foot
     He said one morning during the war
     He was shot many times from the sky, from a Japanese airplane
     He lost some toes
     My Lolo and Lola wanted to bring the family to a new country
     Called the United States of America
     He came to a Veterans Convention in Minneapolis 40 years ago
     It was very cold with lots of snow
     They had a parade or something like that
     A friend let him borrow a thick coat to wear
     He was very happy and proud to be in the parade
     My Lolo is a strong and brave man
     He is honest and wise

     Lolo's sons, my three uncles are veterans too
     They serve in the U.S. Navy
     Lolo is proud of all my Uncles
     I am proud of my Lolo and my Uncles
     They are all good men
     They work so hard in their lives
     They make me want to learn and do good
     They show me I can do many things too
     They teach me to be strong
     They teach me to never give up
     They teach me to live a good life
                                  ____


                       ``Celebrating My Veteran''

                         (By Ellie Wachenheim)


                          3rd Place Grades K-6

     I like to celebrate my mom
     The veteran in the house
     She isn't really bossy.

     And she doesn't scream or shout.
     I like to make her happy
     I like to make her proud
     And she can tell that I try
     Because I show her how.

     I tell her how to do it
     I tell her what to say
     I tell her that I love her
     In every single way.

     I know my mom is smart
     So she must know a lot
     One thing that she knows
     Is that I love her a lot.

     When me and my younger brother
     Know that my mom's coming home
     We get all excited
     and call her on the phone.

     She says that she loves us
     And we tell her that we know
     But one of the times she's happy
     Is when we celebrate that she's home.
                                  ____


                        ``Grandpa the Veteran''

                           (By Chineng Vang)


                          1st Place Grades 7-9

             This poem can be read forwards and backwards.

     You are the best veteran I know
     50 years from now, I'll still believe that
     You are the greatest
     There's no doubt
     You're amazing
     I'll never forget the fact that
     You always try your best
     Everyone knows
     You're intelligent and smart
     The whole military believes
     You are gifted
     With many talents
     You've fought and won many battles

[[Page 9526]]

     It's clear that
     You are special
     I wish I could be like you because
     You're awesome
     There's nothing bad about you because
     You always do the right thing
     I can always know that
     You'll be there for me
     Like you did for Grandma
     Be the best veteran you can be
                                  ____


                              ``Numbers''

                           (By Ezekiel Town)


                          2nd Place Grades 7-9

     Men in bitter rage of war
     People scared and wounded
     They bleed upon the ground
     And I saw only numbers
     Many lie forever crippled and wounded
     Few will rise again
     And I saw only numbers
     Every dollar spent on war
     A joy never felt by the fallen
     Their futures are never told
     And I saw only numbers
     Their blood is spilt upon the ground
     The guilty and the not
     Children in their youth
     Dead and shot
     And I saw only numbers
     On this free path I trod
     What am I from them?
     For I saw only numbers
     Not the faces of the dead
     These people die for me
     And what do I do for them?
     I forget their faces and their stories
     Because I see only numbers
     I cannot look at the setting sun
     The horrors are too much
     For I know their faces are there
     Never to be touched
     I look upon this barren land
     Full of blood and hate
     I don't understand their pain
     For I can see only numbers on this slate
     My tears they fall on burning sands
     As blood comes from their wounds
     I still cannot understand
     For I see only numbers

     These numbers do not tell the story
     Of these woman and these men
     For the only thing I can see is these heartless numbers
     That burn inside my head
     All these people crying
     For their wounded and their dead
     I cannot feel them
     All I have is these numbers in my head
                                  ____


                             ``Deep Down''

                            (By Alarie Chu)


                          3rd Place Grades 7-9

     Friend
     Dear and old
     Veteran
     Part of World War 2
     Fragile
     But hard willed
     Herman Czeck
     Greatest man to live
     You only see a pale-old soul
     But deep down there are acts of greatness;
     Kindness, sweetness
     Deep down hides a boy of twenty
     A young draftee to fight in the army;
     Soldier, military
     Deep down suffers a man who's seen death
     The deaths from a world's disaster;
     The Second World War
     It's hard to imagine,
     People being scared
     Of such a harmless chum
     Since my birth in 2001
     There was an extra family member;
     Dad, Uncle
     A selfless giver
     A man of joy and love;
     Admirable, marvelous
     A Christian companion
     One loved by all;
     A stupendous gift from God
     It's hard to see,
     The deep down truth
     Of a life long lived
     Just last month
     A stroke came along
     To the strongest man I know
     Who still is recovering
     It just goes to show
     We live life one day at a time
     Not knowing which one will be the last.
                                  ____


                              ``Brother''

                           (By Joseph Gabel)


                         1st Place Grades 10-12

     He is a wind rider gliding above the clouds
     He is a predator dominating the sky
     He is homeland security aloft
     He is America's ever present air wall
     He is an eagle with piercing gaze
     He is a guardian for the defenseless
     He is talons snatching our defenders from danger
     He is courage with wings
     He is the American heart patrolling the skies
     He is my Brother
                                  ____


                     ``Memories of the Home Front''

                         (By Sarah Borntrager)


                         2nd Place Grades 10-12

     As a child of a veteran,
     My youth was different than most.
     I remember when my father would leave.
     My mother would hand out his shirts to us children to sleep 
           in.
     At the age of six, I had seemingly come to terms with the 
           chance,
     that one day my mother would hold a folded flag instead of 
           her husband.
     I had asked my mother one day that,
     ``If daddy died, would we go and visit him at the cemetery?''
     My mother immediately tried to reassure me
     that daddy was ok, to which I replied,
     ``I said IF.''
     I don't truly remember my father at home all that well,
     But I can remember what I did when my father was gone.
     Wake up,
     Get dressed,
     Good morning mommy,
     Go to school,
     Learn,
     Go home,
     Mommy, I'm home is daddy back?,
     Eat supper,
     Get daddy's shirt,
     Pray for daddy to come home safe,
     And sleep.
     My father was never truly in danger,
     He was just a loadmaster.
     I never understood that,
     so the joy of seeing him was not just that.
     It was the joy of hugging a father,
     not a flag.
     But now I understand.
     My father served in the US Air Force for 24 years,
     As a weapons loader and then as a
     C-130 Hercules loadmaster.
     And I couldn't be any more proud of him.
     I love my veteran,
     I love my dad.
                                  ____


                            ``Life Savers''

                       (By Taylor Van de Streek)


                         3rd Place Grades 10-12

     You see them on the street,
     You see them in your school,
     You see them at home.
     They're the ones who take the risk for freedom.

     They come home in hopes
     That life will be the same.
     But nothing can stop the memories
     Of all the destruction they've seen.

     I pray for all of them
     When I can,
     So they return safe and in peace
     To sleep calm in their beds.

     They could be a Physics Teacher,
     A Family Friend,
     A Father or Mother,
     Or maybe even the man begging on the street.

     They are our Veterans,
     We have many in our lives.
     So the next time you see one
     Thank them; they might have saved your life.

                          ____________________