By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

In a low-key ceremony held in a high school classroom, aging veterans wearing rows of medals sat stoically listening to students talk about freedom, sacrifice and duty.

The Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) Hawai'i department sponsors the annual Voice of Democracy contest for high school students and a youth essay contest for middle school kids. On Thursday night, the top finishers were called together to receive their awards; but first, each was put to the test. They had to stand and deliver the speeches to an audience of men who had gone to battle for the very things they had written about. Talk about pressure.

Rene Firing, a student at Sacred Hearts Academy, won first place in the state in the youth essay contest. She also placed third in the nation, an honor that comes with a $5,500 savings bond. Firing wrote:

"Ask the tattered, bloody patriot soldier serving in the Revolutionary War if freedom is really free. He will tell you that it is not. Ask the weary nurse who has spent all day caring for those wounded in battle. Her reply will be the same. Freedom always has a cost."

Maisel Caliva, a senior at Waipahu High School, took first place in the state in the Voice of Democracy contest and will represent Hawai'i in the national competition in Washington DC next month, where the top prize is a $25,000 savings bond. The Voice of Democracy is particularly difficult because the entries are not just essays on paper; each student also submits an audio tape of themselves delivering the speech.

Caliva stayed up late one night ruminating on the theme "Reaching out to America's Future." Once the idea struck, he said the words just flowed:

"It is now time for all of us to do our part in this new struggle. I say to my peers, now is our turn to reach out to America's future, to pave the way for our children and for their children and so on. Give blood on a regular basis. Stay in school. Give money to charity. Plant a tree. Support our government and our military. These are just some things that we can do to fulfill our duties as citizens of the United States of America. Never again must we wait for an event like September eleven to invoke our patriotism and citizenship. May our love for country be enduring from now on. We can never truly repay those that came before us, but we can uphold the legacy that they so courageously preserved."

When the formal program was over, the veterans, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, the student winners and their families gathered for the kind of local meal referred to as "light pupus" which would actually qualify as a full buffet anywhere else.

The veterans congratulated the students, slapping each solidly on the shoulder the way older men do when their feelings get too big for words. Said one veteran, "Thank you. You were great. We were worried you might forget."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8182 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.