This essay was submitted by reader Beryl Tarrant, first published in the The Daily Tribune May 19, 1948.

Editor’s note: This editorial is a winning essay by Beryl Hamlet, 9A student in World History at Lincoln High School. Beryl’s essay shows she has grasped the meaning on the rights we Americans so often take for granted and which were the topic of the series, “Fight for Freedom.”

Like many others I know, I didn’t realize how lucky we are to have the kind of government that we do have until I read the editorials in “The Daily Tribune”. It is since then that I have realized the importance of fighting for freedom.

I never stopped to think of what it would be like to live under the domination of a totalitarian government. Our freedoms and rights would be entirely gone. If only everyone would take time out to think of the pleasant life we live and compare it with the dreadful, fear-filled like of those who live in a country with an undemocratic government!

We must fight for freedom NOW, before it is too late. No other country gives as many opportunities for success and happiness as ours does. A free government has been made for us and we must fight to keep it.