By Joanne Cory
Patriotism has many definitions and is often used synonymously with the word nationalism. The word patriotism dates to the ancient Greek/Roman word patria—love of and loyalty to one’s republic or nation. The emphasis was on love and loyalty for shared liberty and the common good of its citizens.
My definition of patriotism is founded on a much more personal level. I have memories as a child of my father taking me to parades, and as the flag went by, he would remove his hat, and standing at attention, salute the flag. He instructed me to stand up straight and to place my right hand over my heart. A World War II veteran, he enlisted in the Army the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Assigned to the South Pacific, as his family was of German heritage, which kept him out of the European front, he was part of the Signal Corps, which he explained were often the first into an area of battle to establish communication among troops. He was a veteran of the infamous battle of Guadalcanal on the Solomon Islands. It was on R&R from that battle that he met my mother in Auckland, New Zealand. My father was adamant that as U.S. citizens we were to respect the flag, our national anthem, and the men and women who served in the military. He believed it was our civic duty to elect our governing body but stressed to me that no matter who we voted for, we were to respect and support our nation’s president. My mother, who became a naturalized citizen after immigrating to the U.S. to marry my father, often reminded me that we, as Americans, were privileged to elect our officials rather than live under governing by royalty, like New Zealand’s citizens, as a British Commonwealth, were.
My husband, Jim, and I met in college in Iowa, where I was born and raised. We were just young enough to miss serving in Vietnam. He was from Illinois and came from a family steeped in military service. His father was a Purple Heart recipient, having been shot at the infamous Battle of the Bulge. His uncle is buried in Normandy, France, never having made if off the beach on D-Day.
We married and started our careers along with raising a family. We, too, taught our children to love our nation and to honor our national flag and anthem by standing and removing our hats. We taught them to thank veterans for their service. My father passed away in 2013 at the Iowa Veteran’s home. He was 99 years old. At his funeral, a squad from the local VFW came and ceremoniously folded a flag, presenting it to us and gave a three-gun salute as he was lowered into his grave. He would have been so honored! It was incredibly touching for us. With gratitude, we began volunteering at the VFW, serving meals, fundraising, and helping in any way we could.
Our son’s career as an art professor brought him to the Birmingham area where he teaches at Samford University. After we retired from our respective careers—me a urology associate and Jim a middle school special education teacher—we moved to Alabaster this past spring. We decided to join VFW Auxiliary post 12185 in Alabaster where we could continue to honor veterans and my father’s memory through service and meet new people to establish a friend base.
We volunteered to be our auxiliary youth ambassadors because of backgrounds and our belief that this generation of youth will benefit from role models who can encourage love and loyalty to our nation’s ideals and the belief that our freedoms extend to ALL who call our nation home. So much of our youth’s perception of patriotism or nationalism is influenced by social media or 24/7 television news channels. One of our goals is to educate and provide opportunities for youth to express their patriotic creativity through art and music.
Joanne Cory is the ambassador to youth from VFW Auxiliary Post 12185 in Alabaster.
Youth Patriotic Art and Music Contests
Each year, the VFW Auxiliary sponsors several art and music contests:
Get Excited for the Red, White, and Blue is a singing contest open to grades K-12. Contestants enter by submitting an unedited video of themselves singing the national anthem.
Illustrating America is an art contest for grades K-8. It is for two-dimensional art judged on the basis of patriotic theme and technique.
Young American Patriotic art contest is a national scholarship for ages 9-12. It is for two-dimensional art. It recognizes young artists based on originality of concept, presentation, and patriotism expressed, along with content of how it relates to patriotism and clarity of ideas, design technique, total impact of work.
Three-Dimensional Patriotic art contest is for ages 9-12. It is for three-dimensional art on canvas or paper using the same rules as two dimensional.
Where, When, and How to Apply
Entry forms and guidelines are available at vfwauxiliary.org/what-we-do/youth-activities or the VWF in Alabaster located at the Siluria Brewing Company 145 1st Avenue West.
Deadline for submissions: March 31, 2024.
Return entries to: VWF in Alabaster located at the Siluria Brewing Company 145 1st Avenue West.
Need Help or have questions? Joanne Cory [email protected]
Judging is based on a points system and will be done by art and music professionals. Local winner’s work will be submitted to the district finals whose winners advance to the state level, and from there to the national level in Washington, D.C.
For the Get Excited for the Red, White, and Blue contest, local awards are framed certificates, at the national level awards are:
Grades K-8
First Place: $500 gift card
Second Place: $300 gift card
Third Place: $200 gift card
Grades 9-12
First Place: $500 gift card
Second Place: $300 gift card
Third Place: $200 gift card
For the Illustrating America contest, there are winners in three separate age groups: Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-8. Winners in the local contest will receive framed certificates, at the national level the awards for each age group are:
Grades K-2
First Place: $100 gift card
Second Place: $50 gift card
Third Place: $25 gift card
Grades 3-5
First Place: $100 gift card
Second Place: $50 gift card
Third Place: $25 gift card
Grades: 6-8
First Place: $100 gift card
Second Place: $50 gift card
Third Place: $25 gift card
For the Young American Art contest the local winners will receive a framed certificate. The National scholarship winners will be awarded:
First place – $15,000
Second place – $7,500
Third place – $3,500
Fourth and fifth place – $1,500
Sixth and seventh place – $1,000
Eighth – nineteenth place – $500
For the 3-Dimensional Art contest:
Third place – $2,500
Fourth and fifth place – $1,500
Sixth and seventh place – $1,000
Eighth – nineteenth place – $500