NEW MANCHESTER - An Oak Glen High School student has finished 14th of 54 participants in the national round of the VFW's Voice of Democracy Scholarship speech contest.

Nathan Mickinac, who will be a senior at OGHS in the fall, first wrote his speech as an assignment for his Honors English class, taught by Rebecca Vukas.

"It wasn't mandatory that we submit it (the speech) to the VFW, but since I'd already written the speech, I decided to go ahead and submit it," Mickinac said.

Mickinac placed first in the local competition sponsored by VFW Post 6450 in Chester, then again at the district level.

Mickinac's father, Daniel Mickinac, stated that his son then went to Clarksburg, W.Va., in January to compete at the state level, where he won a third time. The national competition took place in Washington, D.C.

At his placement as 14th of 54 national competitors, Mickinac stated that he was excited to have gotten so far.

"I was proud to represent my high school, the northern panhandle, and West Virginia when I could go to D.C.," Mickinac said.

The theme of 2008-2009's speech contest was "how service and sacrifice by America's veterans benefit today's youth."

Mickinac's response was that America's veterans are responsible for his freedom to choose how he lives his life.

"I believe that Americans should treat these freedoms as sacred privileges because numerous men and women have surrendered average civilian lives to defend these expected liberties," Mickinac stated in his speech.

Mickinac goes beyond the veterans' sacrifice of their civilian lives, however, and addresses the physical and mental complications that veterans may suffer upon returning from war.

"These serious impediments represent a small percentage of the total sacrifices made by veterans," Mickinac stated in his speech.

Mickinac is from a family of military servicemen. According to his speech, his paternal grandfather served four years on an aircraft carrier as a firefighter in World War II. Mickinac's maternal grandfather served as a seaman on an aircraft carrier for four years. His father served as a submariner for six years.

Mickinac himself will continue his family's tradition of military service.

"To further ensure that my aspirations are achieved, I am applying to the United States Naval Academy to defend my cherished country and its dear freedoms," Mickinac stated in his speech.

At OGHS, Mickinac is Key Club president and treasurer of both the Culture Club and Foreign Language Club. He is also in the National Honors Society. He participates in soccer and tennis.

Mickinac is also a volunteer at the Hugo Brian Youth Leadership program and a Life Scout in Boy Scouts.

Daniel Mickinac stated that he was glad to see his son take advantage of the opportunity for a scholarship.

"I'm very proud that he chose to participate initially, and to write about a topic that is obviously very special to me," Daniel said.

Daniel stated that the Mickinacs want to let other people know about the many scholarship programs that are available to students willing to do a little work.

"Our real goal is to let people know that these types of programs exist," Daniel said. "There are a whole lot of scholarship availabilities out there, sometimes you just have to dig for them."

The theme for 2009-2010's Voice of Democracy Scholarship speech contest is "Does America still have heroes?" and the entrance deadline is Nov. 1.