A Bountiful High student whose father died during Air Force pilot training wrote a personal essay tying his family's military history to a school walkout he organized in January.

John Alley Jr. never met his father. The elder John Harold Alley died May 24, 2008, in Pensacola, Florida, while stationed at Naval Air Station Whiting Field for pilot training, according to an obituary published by The Denver Post. He was 26. He left behind a pregnant wife, Emily. Their son was born months later.

In an essay published Oct. 30 by the Davis Journal, Alley Jr. drew a direct line from his father's service to his own decision to lead classmates out of a U.S. history class on Jan. 30. The essay ran as part of The Salt Lake Tribune's America 250 contest, which asked Utah high school students to share stories exploring the state's history and their vision for the country's future. The Tribune said it picked winners from each of Utah's 29 counties, with winning work published on Tribune platforms and in partner publications.

On that January morning, Alley Jr. walked out of class carrying a megaphone, American flags and protest signs. Close to 200 classmates followed, according to a Davis Journal report published the same day by reporter Becky Ginos. The students gathered in front of the school to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies. Cars passing by honked in support.

Alley Jr. was 17 and a junior at the time. He told the Davis Journal the protest was prompted by similar demonstrations in Ogden and Salt Lake City earlier that week.

"Walkouts make a much bigger statement than anything else because we are showing that we are willing to sacrifice something to make our point heard," Alley said in the January report.

In his essay, Alley Jr. wrote that his father "gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms." He described the inscription on his father's headstone: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children."

He traced a line from ancestors he described as pioneers and Revolutionary War soldiers to his father's death and his own act of protest. He wrote that his third great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, faced religious persecution, and that his sixth great-grandfather, George Haslam, fought as a foot soldier in the Revolutionary War.

"My ancestors fought a revolution and crossed mountains searching for the freedom to build a better future," Alley Jr. wrote. "My father died in defense of that freedom. I just walked out of a classroom."

His mother, Emily, voiced support for her son in the Davis Journal's January coverage. She said he wants things to be "safe and loving and welcoming" but added, "Sometimes you just have to cause a little bit of noise to get people to hear you."

Alley Jr. told the Davis Journal in January that he wants to become a lawyer and pursue a career in public policy.