Vance entries win $1,000 scholarships in Air Force Services essay contest

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VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Three essay contest entries from Vance Air Force Base earned $1,000 scholarships in the 16th annual Air Force Club Membership Scholarship Program essay contest.

The Vance winners were 1st Lt. Cindy Thuli, Eduardo Lima III and 1st Lt. Ryan M. Fortney.

Thuli is the chief of the Exercise Evaluation Team with the 71st Flying Training Wing Plans and Exercise office here.

Lima is the son of now retired Air Force Master Sgt. Eduardo Lima Jr., who lives in the local area.

Fortney is a graduate of JSUPT Class 12-04 and is currently assigned to Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

The contest was open to club members and their families. More than 100 submitted essays describing the meaning to them of the lyrics to "America the Beautiful."

Thuli, whose husband is Capt. Zach Thuli, an instructor pilot with the 3rd Flying Training Squadron here, said she will use the scholarship to help pay for her master's degree in Industrial Engineering through Oklahoma State University.

The following is her winning entry.

What the words to "America the Beautiful" mean to me
By 1st Lt. Cindy Thuli

Some people describe beauty as the sun gleaming off of the calm ocean surface or the pink, red and purple hues of a sunset.

To me, beauty is also the little boy or girl who dreams to become an astronaut or an Olympic athlete, and having the freedom to pursue it.

Beauty is the sea of waving American flags at the cemetery reminding us where our freedoms come from.

Beauty is the laughs and the tears of family as our soldiers return home.

Beauty is all the things this country offers, fights for, and is made of and "America the Beautiful" captures it all.

In the first verse of the song, the words "spacious sky" and "purple mountain majesties" paint a picture of a grand and expansive horizon where opportunities are endless.

For us, those promises became reality. My father was the owner of a military logistics company in Taiwan and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. We moved to the United States when my sister was 9 years old and I was 7 because my parents believed in the bright futures America could offer us.

During those first few years in California, homework was a family affair. Every night we sat around the dinner table, my mom armed with a digital translator, and we slowly made our way through each subject. Failure was not an option.

We knew as long as we worked hard our opportunities only multiplied. In a way, we were the "pilgrims" whose feet "beat across the wilderness" of this foreign country we now called home.

Years later, I attended college on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. It gave me the chance to travel, to grow, and to truly understand the words, "O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife. Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!"

During college, I quickly learned the ways of the military, its history and its heritage. I realized the military is more than just a government entity. Our military is an organization made up of people from all different backgrounds and cultures but with a common goal: to preserve our freedoms.

After entering active duty, I was surrounded by these passionate, resilient and selfless people. I am grateful to stand in their presence and be part of this "brotherhood."

For me, "America the Beautiful" is a song of promise, pride, and sacrifice. The sacrifice my parents made so my sister and I can share in the promises of America and take pride in our accomplishments.

It is also the sacrifice made by so many soldiers before me. It is a song of dreams and tears and of solidarity with our fellow citizens.

When I put on my uniform I feel a sense of unity with all my brothers and sisters in arms of the past, present and future. It is a story we can tell our children and our grandchildren so they can create their own stories and their own "alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears."