Winners announced for museum's national writing competition award Published April 10, 2014 By Sarah Swan National Museum of the U.S. Air Force DAYTON, Ohio -- Deborah Rocheleau, Jarrod Roetenberger and Claud J.A. Boyd were announced as the first, second and third place winners, respectively, of the Air Force Heritage and History Writing Competition, sponsored by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. This was the fourth year for the competition, which was open to public, private school or homeschool students between the ages of 13-18. The research questions for this year's competition were as follows: July 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I (WWI). How did the participation of American pilots in WWI assist in the creation of a U.S. Air Corps and eventually the U.S. Air Force? Who were two significant U.S. pilots of this period? Use research evidence to support your argument. Scholarship award money was provided by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. A $1,500 scholarship was awarded to the first place winner, $1,000 to the second place winner and $500 to the third place winner. Eighty-one students from six states submitted research papers, and Erin Craig, an aerospace educator at the museum, worked with museum volunteers Alice and Paul Pleva to determine the finalists. Those submissions were sent on to award-winning military author Blain Pardoe to determine the final three winners. Pardoe is known for writing military history pieces on a number of Great War topics, among other works. The National Museum of the United States Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the service's national institution for preserving and presenting the Air Force story from the beginning of military flight to today's war on terrorism. It is free to the public and features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 17 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year more than one million visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit www.nationalmuseum.af.mil. NOTE TO MEDIA: For more information, please contact Sarah Swan at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Public Affairs Division at (937) 255-1283.