Fred Gnapp, age 17, of Decatur, Ill., for his question:

WHAT IS AMERICA'S CREED?

America's Creed is the official statement of faith in the United States of America. Here is that creed:

"I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign

Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable, established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

"I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution= to obey its laws: to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies."

In 1917, the city of Baltimore, Maryland, offered a prize of $1,000 to the person who could write the best statement for America's Creed. The winner was William Tyler Page, the clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

On April 3, 1918, Page's entry was read in public for the first time, before a session of the House. It was then that the American Creed was formally accepted in the name of the United States government.