A Traveling Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Inspires a Contest

As America looks to end the war in Iraq, the City of Cupertino is preparing for Veterans Day when a replica memorial of a past war—the Vietnam War—goes on display in .

The City and Cupertino Patch are partnering on holding a contest based on the traveling replica of the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial wall by asking children to tell us what they believe is the significance of a war that ended decades before they were born.

The traveling wall is 80 percent to scale and holds all the names of the fallen soldiers. If you've never seen the original take the opportunity to visit the replica when it arrives in Cupertino Nov. 9.

The arrival of the traveling wall provides an opportunity to reflect on a controversial and unpopular war and the men and women who fought in it, and the more than 58,000 who died in it for their country. How do we teach our children about this war? What have they learned about it? How did it affect our country? What does it mean to today's youth?

Maybe a grandfather fought in Vietnam and has shown your child his dogtags and medals. Maybe you've taken your child to get a pencil rubbing of a fallen soldier's name off the etched wall in Washington, D.C. Or maybe your child learned about the war in school.

We want to know what Cupertino's children believe is significant about the Vietnam War.

Get creative and show us through a visual presentation. It could be a slideshow with a series of pictures of Vietnam War statues, medals, uniforms, tributes or memorials.

Or maybe the story could be told in a video of interviews with a Vietnam War veteran.

Or maybe a sketch or a painting is the way your child can best illustrate their feelings of the meaning of the war.

Photos of all entries will be posted on Cupertino Patch and the winner will be selected through readers' votes and a panel of judges. The Grand Prize winner will take home a $100 iTunes gift card, and two First Prize winners will each get a $50 iTunes gift card, courtesy of the City of Cupertino.

The contest is open to students ages 13 to 18; no more than two entries per child please. Slideshows and videos should last no more than two minutes, and any artwork submitted should be done through a digital photo of the art emailed as an attachment to the Editor at anne.ernst@patch.com (arrangements for the display of original artwork will be made at a later date.)

Winners will be invited to a special ceremony on Nov. 10 at Memorial Park where the traveling wall will be displayed.

Watch the video on the City's website to learn more about the American Veterans Traveling Tribute.