Earth Date: November 11,
2276
Personal Log
My small spaceship arrived at the Interplanetary Spaceport
at Epsilon Eridani, just 62 trillion miles away from earth. I
left Earth from the Cape Canaveral International Space
Terminal. It took just a couple of days to reach Epsilon
Eridani but my ship was tiny and cramped and I am excited
about stepping foot on a new planet. My name is Paul Johnson
and I am a professor of hist ory at Berkley. I volunteered for
this mission to Epsilon Eridaril because I think the lessons
that America has learned are good lessons for other cultures
and beings to learn too. I’ve come to talk to a gathering of
Eridani people which will be transmitted to their whole world
to tell them how America has lasted 500 years as a major
nation on planet Earth.
Back on Earth in America today it is Veteran’s Day, a
national holiday. How did America survive for 500 years?
America has endured because of the Constitution. We have some
great symbols of our country but it wasn’t a symbol like the
Liberty Bell that protected America, but it is the American
soldier. In my holographic broadcast to the Eridani World, I
am going to present Uncle Joe to the Eridani Prime Chancellor
Zurick. “Uncle Joe” is an android, an accumulation of all the
memories of all the veterans of every war- America wouldn’t
even have been a country unless great, great, great, great,
great uncle Joe hadn’t picked up a rifle to defend his
farmland in the French and Indian war. He is the Minute Man
from the Revolutionary War. He is also Paul Revere, George
Washington, General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S.
Grant. He is all the foot soldiers of the Civil War. Uncle Joe
is a Rough Rider, he is a Doughboy, and he is 101 Airborne in
World War II. My Uncle Joe is both of my ancestors who fought
in World War II and in the Vietnam War. He is a Prisoner of
War in Vietnam. He is a soldier that went missing and was
never heard from again. He is the sailor from the Gulf Wars.
Uncle Joe is a veteran of the first alien attack on our world.
Once Uncle Joe starts talking, like my grandfathers, he will
be hard to stop telling one of his stories, but that’s ok, he
is a wealth of knowledge.
The one problem we couldn’t fix with Uncle Joe is not
really a problem at all. Uncle Joe, being the first
accumulated knowledge android, can’t stop talking to himself
when he is alone, sharing memories with long lost comrades.
Uncle Joe is able to talk to the Generals from all these wars,
to have his questions answered. I can only imagine what their
collective opinions will turn out to be. Hopefully, the advice
and knowledge of Uncle Joe will help the people of Eridani
survive as Long as America, if not longer.
SECOND PLACE
Rebecca K. Diamond of Omaha,
Nebraska
was awarded Second Place. She received a
$1000 US Savings Bond and a
National Sojourners
Plaque.
Omaha Chapter #19 sponsored the student.
As I walk down the tree lined vistas, I see the
hundreds of thousands of small white marble tombstones
perfectly aligned like soldiers marching off to battle. The
tombs tones of Arlington National Cemetery mark the graves of
over 290,000 ordinary men and women who served this great
country. When I was asked to travel to a new planet, I knew I
wanted to take a single tombstone to represent the service,
dedication, and sacrifice that so many citizens have given to
make the United States of America a dominant nation for 500
years.
This tombstone embodies the service of ordinary men and
women. Service may have come in the form of being a member of
the armed forces, being president or other political office,
acting as a judge of traveling to outer space. Engraved on the
amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery is a quote, “When
we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen”.
While each of these individuals may not have been a soldier,
each was an ordinary citizen who served this country. It takes
the service of many to build a great nation.
The tombstone marks the grave of a dedicated citizen. From
the Unknown Soldier to President John F Kennedy, from a young
buck private to a great general, from astronauts to Supreme
Court justices, these men and women all dedicated their lives
to this country. Some served in the military; others became
leaders in politics or space exploration, while others worked
to ensure that all our citizens’ rights were upheld. Most
would not consider themselves to be great; each was just doing
his or her job. Their dedication shows that citizens care
about the beliefs and philosophies that are a part of our
country’s foundation.
Lastly, this tombstone represents the sacrifice each
individual gave to his count ry. Each citizen gave time and
energy to learn and do a job. These jobs often required the
sacrifice of being away from home, family and friends. Many
gave the ultimate sacrifice of their life while actively
serving this country. Without these sacrifices, this country
would not have survived as a dominant nation for so many
years.
This tombstone is small and white. Whom this tombstone
represents is not important. Rather, it represents a person
who gave service, dedication, and sacrifice for this country.
These qualities are all needed to support the ideals of
freedom, the backbone of this country. When I was asked to
travel to a new planet, I knew I wanted to take a single
tombstone. The United States of America has been a dominant
nation for 500 years because these ordinary citizens whom the
tombstone represents.
THIRD PLACE
Taylor J. Vanstraten of
Pensacola, Florida
was awarded Third Place. She received a
$500 US Savings Bond
and a National Sojourners Plaque.
Five Flags of Pensacola Chapter #460 sponsored the
student.
The 500th Anniversary of our Nation marked a turning point
in our history; for on this day, a group of students,
including myself, were sent on a mission to a far dist ant
planet to explain our nation’s growth and prosperity... This
is our story....
As the students descended the ramp off their cozy shuttle
and onto the newly discovered planet X; their minds began to
wonder what they would see after they completely exited the
ship. It all came in a rush. They were welcomed with rolling
hills and a beautiful, bubbling riverbed, not to mention the
strange green men that began speaking in some foreign dialect.
Next, the students unpacked their treasures and went their
separate ways to show this strange world America’s
accomplishments and to instill the ideals of America among
these strange creatures. I left my group heading in what my
scanners indicated as west; under my arm was THE original
United States’ Constitution. I had it in a case that was
secured to not allow air or any liquid that could possibly
contaminate the document. I choose this document because it is
the foundation of our nations entire centralized government
and is the basis of our legal system today. I was scheduled to
meet with one of their government officials to discuss their
politic al system and compare it to ours.
I met him in his home and we began our discussion. First I
explained how our government works. The Constitution was
created by our nation’s founding fathers during a meeting of
the Continental Congress. It took many long, argumentative
hours of sweating men yelling, but eventually, the
Constitution was ratified by nine of the thirteen original
colonies. It replaced the Articles of Confederation which were
inefficient to run our new, independent country. The Bill of
Rights was soon added which gave all Americans their basic
rights which is the life of our great nation.
He listened intently as I continued my brief account of the
beginning of our nation’s history. He only asked one question:
Why, of all your nation’s treasures, did you choose to bring
this document: I concluded our conversation of our country’s
history by replying that it is the glue that holds the United
States of America together and has kept America the Dominant
power of Earth for 500 years To conclude I asked how he felt
about America and he said that he learned many things and he
would pass this story onto his superiors. I felt I had an
impact on this man and soon, maybe even his country’s
government. It was a valuable day and it made me appreciate
our country even more so than ever.
