Arlington VFW Post 981 awards three scholarships

Arlington Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 981 has awarded its annual VFW Post 981 Wally Luettschwager Memorial Scholarship Grant to Kevin Cantieri of Mount Prospect, who is graduating from Prospect High School this May.

Kevin is maintaining a 4.63 GPA and is a member of the golf team and tutors other students. He is an Eagle Scout and Senior Patrol Leader in his Scout troop. He founded a youth sports camp, and supervised the building of an outdoor play area at a local school during the pandemic for his Eagle project.

He will be attending the University of Illinois Urbana this fall, majoring in mechanical engineering. Kevin's grandfather was in the Army in World War II, serving in the European theater.

Because of the quality of applicants, Arlington VFW Post 981 decided to award additional monetary grants to the two other finalists, Emily Kim and Elise Marcisek. Emily is a resident of Long Grove graduating from Stevenson High School. Her mother served in the U.S. Army in Korea, while her father is a veteran of the ROK armed services.

Elise, of Arlington Heights, graduated in May 2020 from Buffalo Grove High School and is a freshman at Purdue University majoring in UX design. Elise's father is a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Wally Luettschwager was a lifelong resident of Arlington Heights, who served honorably in the U.S. Army in combat during the Korean War. He came home and was an active member of VFW Post 981 for more than 60 years.

Wally played an integral part in the organizing and running of the Arlington Heights Memorial Day Parade, which has been part of the community for more than 100 years.

The scholarship is awarded annually in Wally's name. Visit www.vfwpost981.com for information on eligibility and applying.