The Poster in the Window

National Veterans Day was officially established in 1954 under President Eisenhower. Before that, it was known as Armistice Day. Many American Legion Auxiliary posts across the country sponsored local student contests to celebrate that special day of remembrance.

I was eight years old when our schoolteacher in Michigan, North Dakota—population about 400—announced there would be a contest to create a poster honoring Armistice Day. We children were encouraged to participate, and the winning poster would be displayed in a store window on Main Street for everyone to see.

I told my parents I wanted to enter, and they encouraged me wholeheartedly. I can still remember sitting at our kitchen table, crayons spread out, working so carefully on my drawing.

When the winners were announced, I could hardly believe it—I had won the contest! My family and I hurried to Main Street, and there it was—my poster in the store window, with a bright winner’s ribbon beside it. I felt so proud, so surprised, and so happy.

Seventy-five years later, as I was rummaging through some of my old paintings and drawings from my twenties, I found that very poster. I thought it had been lost forever, yet there it was—worn with age but filled with memories. Memories of a small American town that took in our family after we fled Europe following World War II. Memories of safety, hope, and gratitude for the soldiers who had freed Europe from tyranny.

There is still a national Veterans Day poster contest today. I don’t know much about it, but I hope it still inspires children to learn about the price our grandparents and families paid for freedom. I hope they’re taught how, after the war, America opened its doors to families like mine—displaced persons, immigrants—seeking peace and a new beginning.

The little town of Michigan opened its arms and welcomed us in. That’s the America I will always believe in, and love.