James Ashcraft and Jack Gasperich are the winners of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Tufts-Rondon Post 2891’s 2019 Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest.

CRYSTAL FALLS — The Veterans of Foreign Wars Tufts-Rondon Post 2891 has announced James Ashcraft and Jack Gasperich are the winners of the VFW’s 2019 Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest.

Ashcraft and Gasperich, who entered through the VFW Post Tufts-Rondon 2891 and its Auxiliary in Crystal Falls, wrote their winning essays based on this year’s theme, “Why I Honor the Flag.”

The VFW enacted the Patriot’s Pen youth essay competition in 1995 as a way to encourage young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, while improving their writing skills.

The contest is a worldwide competition that gives students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades the opportunity to write a 300- to 400-word, theme-based essay expressing their views on democracy while competing for worthwhile awards and prizes.

More than 500 Michigan students participated in the competition this year. Fifty-three finalists worldwide will compete at the national level for individual awards ranging from $500 to $5,000.