Sophomore Lincoln Abbott was awarded first place for his essay, “Mr. James Craswell in the Korean War,” in the Third Annual San Antonio Korean War Essay Contest sponsored by the Korean American Association. This year’s contest commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. The purpose of the contest was to expose area high school students to the historical importance of the Korean War and to understand and appreciate the amount of service and sacrifice demonstrated by American Military Forces during the Korean War.

In the first round of the contest, each applicant was asked to conduct research on the Korean War and submit an essay reflecting his or her understanding of the historical event. In the next round, three finalists conducted an interview with a Korean War veteran and then submitted a two page essay describing what he or she learned from the interview, the most meaningful comment made by the veteran during the interview, and what the statement “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE” meant to him or her.

Lincoln interviewed an 82 year old Korean War veteran who was a member of the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) during the Korean War, Mr. Craswell, about his role as an advisory group member and training South Korean military officers to lead their troops more efficiently and intelligently.