The national first-place winner wins a scholarship and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Each year the essay topic changes; all essays are on patriotic topics and are limited to 300-400 typewritten words. Candidates may submit one essay per year. Essays must be the original work of the student.
Essays are judged on content, originality, punctuation, grammar and spelling, and how well the essay addresses the essay topic. Students wishing to enter the contest may contact their local VFW post for more information.
The contest is offered each year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), a federally chartered corporation formed in 1899. The organization, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is dedicated to helping America's veterans, including disabled and needy veterans, veterans’ widows and orphans and the dependents of needy or disabled veterans. The purpose of the annual essay contest is to encourage more youth to learn more about American history.
The deadline for this scholarship is usually in NOVEMBER of each year, and the award amount is usually $5,000.
For more details, visit www.vfw.org/PatriotsPen/
