a047  0304  04 Jul 86
BC-Liberty Essay-Text,0208
11-Year-Old's Essay on Statue of Liberty
    NEW YORK (AP) - Following is the text of the essay titled ''Our
Statue: Teacher of Liberty'' written by 11-year-old Hue Cao of Hawaii
for the Christa McAuliffe Liberty Essay Contest:
    ''I think the Statue of Liberty is the greatest symbol of freedom in
the world.
    ''My family and I are from Vietnam. After the war ended, the
Communists took over and they were very cruel, stern and
ill-tempered. They took away our freedom, and worst of all, they
could kill anyone. We had a very hard life under them.
    ''We wanted to live in America, a land where there is liberty and
justice. Everytime we saw a picture of the Statue of Liberty, my
mother would tell us that SHE is America. America is a place that
lends a hand to those in need. The Americans care for all people,
from hopeless to homeless people. After we arrived in America, we
promised our mother to love, care and protect the Statue of Liberty.
    ''In conclusion, I would like to say that America is truly my home.
I shall live in this country forever, because this nation has given
my family a brand new life.''
    
AP-NY-07-04-86 0604EDT
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