President Donald Trump was met with countless rounds of applause during his keynote commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday.
During the address, Trump touted the &#8220;Golden Age of America,&#8221; told the graduates to be proud of their accomplishments, and highlighted numerous cadets for their standout achievements.
“You are winners, every single one of you,” Trump said during the address. “You are the first West Point graduates of the Golden Age of America.”
&#8220;We’re getting rid of the distractions and focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag,” Trump continued, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/24/us-news/trump-rips-prior-presidents-vows-military-will-be-respected-again-in-west-point-graduation-speech-touting-golden-age-priorities/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the New York Post.
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“The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of the gun. The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and anyplace,&#8221; he said.
“My preference always will be to make peace and seek partnership, even with countries with which our differences may be profound,” Trump added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
<a href="https://t.co/5tN9l40W83">https://t.co/5tN9l40W83</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> at West Point:
“This is a day you will never forget.”
He’s right. 
Because under President Trump, the forgotten warriors are finally remembered. 
The military is being rebuilt. 
And West Point stands tall again — not as a woke experiment, but as a…
— TOMMYTATUMNEWS (@BenKaxton) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenKaxton/status/1926284210051895376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump brought up numerous graduates to the stage during the address, including one young man who broke an international record by 13 minutes with his 18-mile march time.
&#8220;Where is he? Where is he? Come up here &#8212; come up here, Chris!&#8221; Trump shouted, eliciting loud cheers from the audience. When Trump told him to say something to the crowd, the cadet smiled and told the audience, &#8220;It&#8217;s been a long five years, but I couldn&#8217;t have done it without any of these guys.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_925069" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-925069" class="wp-image-925069 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM-1024x568.png" alt="" width="1024" height="568" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM-1024x568.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM-300x166.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM-768x426.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM-1536x852.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-24-at-11.27.03-AM.png 1640w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: C-Span</div>
Trump also highlighted eight cadets who &#8220;took on the challenge of designing their own hypersonic rocket.&#8221;
&#8220;Oh, we can use you,&#8221; Trump said to laughs from the audience. &#8220;We&#8217;re building them right now! &#8230; We are the designer of it, we had it stolen during the Obama administration. You know who stole it? The Russians stole it.&#8221;
Throughout the commencement address, Trump touched on politics. For example, the president referenced the Democrats&#8217; lawfare campaign against him after he left office in 2016.
Trump said he was investigated more than mobster Al Capone. &#8220;Can you believe it? And now I&#8217;m president talking to you,&#8221; he said to loud applause.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hyULwVCcgJw?si=dJ2NesEguSLVuLIm&amp;start=1451" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fire-everyone-in-charge-conservatives-blast-west-point-over-false-pete-hegseth-claim?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘Fire+Everyone+In+Charge’%3A+Conservatives+Blast+West+Point+Over+False+Pete+Hegseth+Claim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Fire Everyone In Charge’: Conservatives Blast West Point Over False Pete Hegseth Claim</a>

President Trump Speaks At West Point Commencement Ceremony

‘Golden Age Of America’: Trump Brings Down The House During West Point Commencement Speech

'Golden Age Of America': Trump Brings Down The House During West Point Commencement Speech

Donald Trump

Graduation

Military

U.S.

West Point

President Donald Trump announced on Monday night that he will deliver the commencement addresses at the University of Alabama and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Trump will address graduating cadets at West Point for the second time after delivering the commencement address there in June of 2020 during the COVID pandemic. The speech at Alabama will be his first commencement address at the university.
&#8220;I have agreed to do the Commencement Address at two really GREAT places, the University of Alabama and, WEST POINT. Stay tuned for times and dates!!!&#8221; Trump wrote on social media.
Alabama&#8217;s commencement ceremonies will <a href="https://commencement.ua.edu/#:~:text=COMMENCEMENT%20AT%20UA,May%204th%20at%20Coleman%20Coliseum." target="_blank" rel="noopener">take place</a> at the Coleman Coliseum from Friday, May 2, through Sunday, May 4. West Point&#8217;s graduation ceremony is scheduled for May 24.
&#8220;Thrilled @POTUS will deliver the 2025 commencement address at the University of Alabama. What a tremendous honor for my alma mater,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/SenKatieBritt/status/1914638177433772214" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL). &#8220;Looking forward to a historic occasion for graduates and their families. Roll Tide!&#8221;
Trump has made multiple trips to the University of Alabama in recent years. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa to attend the Alabama vs. Georgia football game, and during his first term as president, he was at the Alabama vs. LSU game.
West Point grads are usually <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/about/traditions/graduation/usma-commencement-speakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed</a> by the commander-in-chief, vice president, or other sitting U.S. leaders. Last year, then-President Joe Biden delivered the commencement address at West Point, and in 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the graduating class. Former President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at West Point twice while in office, as did former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
During his 2020 address at West Point, Trump emphasized the importance of the academy and the sacrifices and contributions its graduates made for the country.
&#8220;Every graduate on this field could have gone to virtually any top-ranked university that you wanted,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-2020-united-states-military-academy-west-point-graduation-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during his 2020 address. &#8220;You chose to devote your life to the defense of America. You came to West Point because you know the truth: America is the greatest country in human history, and the United States Military is the greatest force for peace and justice the world has ever known.&#8221;

Trump To Deliver Commencement Addresses At ‘Two Really Great Places’

Commencement

Education

Executive

University of Alabama

President Donald Trump hit the ground running on Monday morning, announcing early in the day that he had ordered the &#8220;immediate dismissal&#8221; of the Board of Visitors for all three major service academies: the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York; the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; and the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Trump delivered the news directly to the public via his social media platform Truth Social, saying that he planned to help make the American military stronger by appointing all new board members who shared Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth&#8217;s vision for a military free of &#8220;Woke Leftist ideologues.&#8221;
The Board of Visitors functions similarly to an advisory board.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 <a href="https://t.co/DJIMVPmo0t">pic.twitter.com/DJIMVPmo0t</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1888955801454231969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Our service academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years,&#8221; Trump posted. &#8220;I have ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard.&#8221;
&#8220;We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards. We must make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN!&#8221; Trump&#8217;s statement concluded.
Trump&#8217;s announcement comes just 24 hours after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-hegseth-social-justice-and-dei-are-out-at-military-academies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">similar one from Hegseth</a>, who said that he&#8217;d already met with leadership at the service academies and was pleased with the progress they&#8217;d made thus far in excising Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs from the academies.
&#8220;Last week, I met with the leadership of @westpoint_USMA, @navalacademy and @af_academy,&#8221; Hegseth said in his post to X. &#8220;My message was simple: stick to leadership, standards, excellence, war fighting, and readiness. These are MILITARY ACADEMIES, not civilian universities.&#8221;
&#8220;I was impressed by the changes already underway and look forward to visiting each institution. Social Justice and DEI are OUT; History, Engineering, and War Studies are IN,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We must restore the warrior ethos to the @deptofdefense — and it starts with our future leaders.&#8221;
Hegseth has been very clear — since long before he was confirmed to his new post — that one of his top priorities would be ridding the military of DEI programs and initiatives, restoring the Warrior Ethos, and making the American military the strong and lethal fighting force that it has been in the past.

President Trump Meets With Visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu At The White House

Trump Orders ‘Immediate Dismissal’ Of Military Academy Boards

Trump Orders 'Immediate Dismissal' Of Military Academy Boards

Air Force

Naval Academy

Politics

Conservatives railed against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday, after it was reported that the academy told a left-wing journalist that Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pete-hegseth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Hegseth</a>, was never accepted into the school, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-hegseth-scoops-apparent-media-hit-piece-about-west-point-heres-my-letter-of-acceptance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which is false</a>.
As reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-hegseth-scoops-apparent-media-hit-piece-about-west-point-heres-my-letter-of-acceptance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, Hegseth scooped ProPublica, which was preparing to publish a story about Hegseth supposedly lying about getting into West Point. After Hegseth posted a photo of his acceptance letter, ProPublica said West Point&#8217;s public relations office told them twice on the record that Hegseth never even applied to the academy. However, after Hegseth sent the outlet his acceptance letter, ProPublica ignored the story.
Quickly, some online questioned why ProPublica didn&#8217;t publish the story about West Point giving them false information. West Point was also criticized for what the academy called an &#8220;error.&#8221;
&#8220;Officials at the U.S. Military Academy should not be feeding lies to left-wing reporters about President Trump’s nominees,&#8221; Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) posted. &#8220;West Point needs to thoroughly investigate this egregiously bad judgement and potential violation of the Privacy Act immediately.&#8221;
Cotton published a photo of a letter he sent to West Point Superintendent <span class="c5aZPb" role="button" data-enable-toggle-animation="true" data-extra-container-classes="ZLo7Eb" data-hover-hide-delay="1000" data-hover-open-delay="500" data-send-open-event="true" data-theme="0" data-width="250" data-ved="2ahUKEwis8Oaa2KCKAxUG78kDHTmVCIcQmpgGegQIGBAD">Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland. The letter asked the leader to look into the matter, noting that it was likely a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 for such (false) information to be divulged to a media outlet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Officials at the U.S. Military Academy should not be feeding lies to left-wing reporters about President Trump’s nominees.
West Point needs to thoroughly investigate this egregiously bad judgement and potential violation of the Privacy Act immediately. <a href="https://t.co/gQpFjLbLaS">pic.twitter.com/gQpFjLbLaS</a>
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1866896643892842860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
Vice President-elect JD Vance criticized the journalist for failing to report on the &#8220;actual story.&#8221; &#8220;You were misled by a bureaucrat,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;That&#8217;s actually a story, just not the one you wanted to print.&#8221;
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&#8220;The effort to tank Hegseth&#8217;s nomination is one of the most coordinated smear campaigns I&#8217;ve ever seen in DC,&#8221; Vance added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You were misled by a bureaucrat. That&#8217;s actually a story, just not the one you wanted to print.
The effort to tank Hegseth&#8217;s nomination is one of the most coordinated smear campaigns I&#8217;ve ever seen in DC. <a href="https://t.co/1vH2SrcOSb">https://t.co/1vH2SrcOSb</a>
— JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1866942718678798835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;A journalist would now focus on why the West Point Office of Public Affairs lied to them, as opposed to simply dropping the original story because it didn&#8217;t pan out the way they wanted,&#8221; Stephen L. Miller echoed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A journalist would now focus on why the West Point Office of Public Affairs lied to them, as opposed to simply dropping the original story because it didn&#8217;t pan out the way they wanted. <a href="https://t.co/ngslklag1K">https://t.co/ngslklag1K</a>
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1866902744004489287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;West Point lied to you about the incoming SECDEF and you didn’t think it was worth a story?&#8221; Sean Davis wrote. &#8220;That’s not journalism. You were looking to run a partisan hit, and when it failed, you tried to slink away and pretend it never happened.&#8221;
Davis also responded to Cotton&#8217;s letter, writing, &#8220;Make it easy and just fire everyone in charge at West Point. Send a clear signal that nonsense will not be tolerated anywhere.&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
West Point lied to you about the incoming SECDEF and you didn’t think it was worth a story? That’s not journalism. You were looking to run a partisan hit, and when it failed, you tried to slink away and pretend it never happened. <a href="https://t.co/KeGsZcxl4X">https://t.co/KeGsZcxl4X</a>
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1866901969148760490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;The real question &amp; story here is **why** West Point lied to you,&#8221; Sean Parnell said. &#8220;Because it seems the motivation was to hurt Pete’s chances at becoming SECDEF. Which in turn could mean a military officer wanted to undermine a President-elect. And this folks, is precisely why we need Pete.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The real question &amp; story here is **why** West Point lied to you.
Because it seems the motivation was to hurt Pete’s chances at becoming SECDEF.
Which in turn could mean a military officer wanted to undermine a President-elect.
And this folks, is precisely why we need Pete. <a href="https://t.co/2KfBBPQNUk">https://t.co/2KfBBPQNUk</a>
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1866886971991249111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;If Pete Hegseth hasn’t kept a letter for almost 30 years, the biggest story today would be about West Point. And it would have been a hoax,&#8221; Mike Cernovich posited. &#8220;Entire West Point chain of command must be removed.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
If Pete Hegseth hasn’t kept a letter for almost 30 years, the biggest story today would be about West Point.
And it would have been a hoax.
Entire West Point chain of command must be removed. <a href="https://t.co/3P0Edn3hYc">https://t.co/3P0Edn3hYc</a>
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1866910939414749495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
When The Daily Wire reached out to West Point on Wednesday about the discrepancy, the academy said it was due to an &#8220;error&#8221; on their part and apologized.
“A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend,” the West Point directorate of communications said in a statement.
“An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024,” the statement continued. “Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003.”
“The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error,” the directorate of communications added.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-hegseth-scoops-apparent-media-hit-piece-about-west-point-heres-my-letter-of-acceptance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Hegseth Scoops Apparent Media Hit Piece About West Point: ‘Here’s My Letter Of Acceptance’</a>

Peter Thiel Visits “FOX & Friends”

‘Fire Everyone In Charge’: Conservatives Blast West Point Over False Pete Hegseth Claim

Department of Defense

Media

Pete Hegseth

On Wednesday, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pete-hegseth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Hegseth</a>, scooped a left-wing media outlet that was preparing to publish a story about Hegseth supposedly lying about getting into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Hegseth, a decorated combat veteran, posted photos of his acceptance letter from the academy in a now-viral post. The 44-year-old said he chose not to attend the academy after he was accepted.
&#8220;We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999,&#8221; Hegseth wrote. &#8220;Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999.
Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army. <a href="https://t.co/UOhOVZSfhJ">pic.twitter.com/UOhOVZSfhJ</a>
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1866833468589584625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
ProPublica editor Jesse Eisinger said West Point told the outlet on two occasions that Hegseth did not even apply to the academy, but said after Hegseth&#8217;s people sent ProPublica the acceptance letter, they chose not to run with the story.
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&#8220;Hegseth has said that he got into West Point but didn’t attend,&#8221; Eisinger posted online. &#8220;We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there. We reached out. Hegseth&#8217;s spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn&#8217;t publish a story. That&#8217;s journalism.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hegseth has said that he got into West Point but didn’t attend.
We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there.
We reached out. Hegseth&#8217;s spox gave us his acceptance letter.
We didn&#8217;t publish a story.
That&#8217;s journalism. <a href="https://t.co/TceZdglkmL">https://t.co/TceZdglkmL</a>
— Jesse Eisinger (@eisingerj) <a href="https://twitter.com/eisingerj/status/1866863141826752735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
West Point told The Daily Wire that the discrepancy was due to an error and apologized.
“A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend,&#8221; the West Point directorate of communications said in a statement.
&#8220;An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003.&#8221;
&#8220;The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error,&#8221; the directorate of communications added.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-is-a-winner-trump-stands-by-hegseth-amid-legacy-media-firestorm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Pete Is A WINNER’: Trump Stands By Hegseth Amid Legacy Media Firestorm</a>

President-Elect Trump’s Nominees For Upcoming Administration Meet With Lawmakers On Capitol Hill

Pete Hegseth Scoops Apparent Media Hit Piece About West Point: ‘Here’s My Letter Of Acceptance’

If you’re a veteran like me, you will find it increasingly more difficult to watch the news. Lately, as current events pertain to the military, however, it’s becoming almost unbearable to witness the crumbling of the beloved nation we once donned the uniform to preserve and protect.
If you follow The Daily Wire, you know I recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-u-s-military-more-dangerous-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an article</a> addressing my concerns that a sense of “wokeness” is seeping into America’s armed forces. It is a seemingly conscious effort to chip away at American nationalism. This relentless shift to the Left is distracting our military from focusing on its true mission, which is to protect our homeland through lethal projection of power and the willingness to use this power if necessary.
With this said, imagine my dismay, along with many other veterans, when I read that the United States Military Academy at West Point is dropping the patriotic edict “Duty, Honor, Country” from its mission statement in favor of the more politically correct “Preserving Army Values.” At first, I thought it was “fake news” as I simply refused to believe that such an about face on American patriotism was taking place at one of the nation’s oldest and most revered military academies. To my dismay, as The Daily Wire has since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/west-point-removes-duty-honor-country-from-mission-statement-replaces-with-army-values" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a>, the initial report I read was, in fact, correct. 
I am not the only veteran in my family. My father served in the Korean War, First Marines, wounded in combat, whose hero was General Douglas MacArthur. Although not popular among the rank and file, my father always admired that MacArthur, an army chauvinist to the core, nevertheless chose his First Marine Division as the spearpoint for his brilliant Inchon landing behind communist lines in 1950 that saved South Korea from tyranny. And so, many of MacArthur’s dicta rang true with him. 
One of the General’s mantras was the hallowed West Point rallying cry of “Duty, Honor, Country.” Indeed, though my father was a hard man who’d seen war up close, who suffered personal loss during his life, the only time I ever saw him weep was when we watched the movie “MacArthur” and actor Gregory Peck recites to a group of actually assembled West Point cadets, the eponymous character’s final speech to his beloved academy in 1962, two years before his death. Audio recordings of the General’s actual speech can also be found on YouTube. It wasn’t the acting so much as the words, spoken verbatim, that so deeply affected my combat veteran father.
In his moving elocution, the old warrior again and again reverts to the three sublime words as the bedrock standards upon which they should base their future conduct as America’s first line of defense: “Duty, Honor, Country.” 
Says MacArthur, 
<blockquote>…great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night &#8211; Duty, Honor, Country. 
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come-the great captains who hold the nation’s destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words &#8211; Duty, Honor, Country.</blockquote>
To a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, this sacred credo is the summation of who, why, and what we serve. They are calls to commitment, morality, and belief in the national interest above the self. Indeed, no better words can sum up the ethos of the American fighting man and woman. 
And now these words which stood as a beacon in an institution that for over two centuries has produced some of the world’s most gifted captains have been scrubbed from the walls of the academy like so much politically incorrect graffiti.
During MacArthur’s soliloquy — a framed copy of which my father kept prominently displayed in our family room — the importance the great strategist and former West Point superintendent placed on those three words &#8220;Duty, Honor, Country&#8221; made an indelible mark on my psyche. So much so that offering my life up for military service was an easy decision. To this day, those three words still inspire me with a deep sense of American nationalism whenever I revisit them: “Duty, Honor, Country.” 
Now, I find that this new, progressive group of Army bureaucrats — I won’t call them generals because that is a title worthy of respect and admiration — who are “facilitating” West Point, not leading, are actually uprooting every fiber of the patriotic base that made West Point the wellspring from which the desire to preserve our American Constitution flows. Words have meaning; they inspire feelings, thoughts, and conduct. As such, to sterilize the powerful message found in those three words “Duty, Honor, Country” with a sanitized, anodyne PowerPoint slogan such as “Respect Army Values” is a blight against every patriot who died for this country, from Nathan Hale to the Unknown Soldier.
Words can inspire, and an inspired enemy is difficult to control and is capable of extraordinary bravery. The Left understands quite well that language can be a powerful tool of indoctrination. It is not by chance that our children no longer start off their school days by first reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Again, rousing words lead to extraordinary deeds, and evil people, who are trying to usurp a good and free nation, know this. Taking away the loyalty oath of “Duty, Honor, Country” has a desired, debilitating effect. I doubt very much, that the men who fought their way to the summit of Mount Suribachi to plant the flag atop Iwo Jima had the words “Army Values” running through their minds as the fierce battle raged around them. But they knew their purpose, they knew why they were fighting, and they knew for whom they were willing to continue engaging in a life-and-death struggle for freedom. It was their duty to honor their fallen comrades in order to save the country they loved so dearly. Again, I don’t see where saying “Army Values” would have motivated anyone to risk their lives for a nation that from grade school to even our military academies they are being taught to disdain.
No doubt, many a G.I. over many battlefields has garnered intestinal fortitude by whispering to themselves those same three words “Duty, Honor, Country” before lining up for the charge into the hell of enemy fire. The concept that “Army Values” could inspire such valor at a time when an American soldier needs it most in order to ensure a continuation of our free way of life under the Constitution is ludicrous and laughable on its face, and frankly insulting and offensive. “Army Values” indeed.
With every waking moment of his or her day, a West Point cadet is reminded that he or she is an integral part of The Corps whose core values were, &#8220;Duty, Honor, Country.&#8221; A cadet can take solace in the knowledge that the shiver of motivation he or she feels running down their spine is a natural outgrowth of such inspiring words. That is, until today!
If you had read one of my other articles about the reactions us boomer vets and myself were having to President Biden threatening to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extreme-prejudice-at-the-texas-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">call out the National Guard</a> on the Texas border agents, you will remember that we regularly debate this nation’s policies as we sit in the waiting rooms of the VA hospitals. The same scenario will happen the next time I show up at my VA, and I’m almost certain I can gauge what will be the reaction to the extreme alteration to West Point’s point mission statement.
In 1917, the Espionage Act was passed after the United States entered World War I. It was followed by the Sedition Act of 1918. Both of these pieces of legislation were designed to incriminate individuals who attempted to impede the war effort. Those who did so were punished since they were believed to be performing acts of anti-patriotism.
I can tell you with no uncertainty, that during the next discussion I have with a fellow vet, we will be deliberating who we feel is responsible for removing West Point’s more than a century-old motto. My conclusion would be that the individual bureaucrat in uniform, or even the entire committee if the decision were made in this manner, should be stripped of his/her rank(s) and brought before a court martial to face charges of sedition in accordance with the Espionage and Sedition Acts.
After all, unlike &#8220;Duty, Honor, Country,&#8221; these words are still on the books.
* * *
Brian Schaeffer served as a Naval aviator until his honorable discharge in 1985 with the rank of Lieutenant. Lt. Schaeffer has been in both the shipping business and involved in real estate ever since re-entering civilian life. Prior to heading off to Aviation Reserve Officers Corps, he graduated with honors from Indiana University, Bloomington.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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‘Duty, Honor, Country’: Political Correctness At West Point Leaves Our Military Distracted From Its True Mission

'Duty, Honor, Country': Political Correctness At West Point Leaves Our Military Distracted From Its True Mission

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The mission statement of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/west-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Point</a> will no longer include the words “duty, honor, country,” as the over 220-year-old military academy choses to adopt a new mission statement based on “Army Values.”
The military academy <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/news/press-releases/west-point-mission-statement-update-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the proposed change on Monday, saying that the edits to the decades-old mission statement have already been approved by the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff. West Point will still retain “duty, honor, country,” as the academy’s motto, saying that the changes to the mission statement came after a year and a half long assessment.
West Point&#8217;s new mission statement will be: “To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.”
The academy explained the change by saying that it was part of routine examination of the mission of the institution.
“Our responsibility to produce leaders to fight and win our nation&#8217;s wars requires us to assess ourselves regularly,” West Point said. “Thus, over the past year and a half, working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders, we reviewed our vision, mission, and strategy to serve this purpose. We believe our mission binds the Academy to the Army — the Army in which our cadets will serve.”
The mission statement has been changed nine times before and the lines “duty, honor, country,” were added in 1998.
“It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point,” the statement said. “These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history.”
The news that West Point was changing its mission statement was criticized by some conservatives who said it was another example of the military’s mission drift.
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&#8220;The elimination of &#8216;Duty, Honor, Country&#8217; from West Point’s mission statement is a direct reflection of undesirable shifts in our service academies,&#8221; Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1768659580551115069" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The values that have led generations should not be erased to appeal to the cultural moment.&#8221;
&#8220;Wow! #WestPoint announcing they’ve gone full globalist,&#8221; commentator Rachel Campos Duff <a href="https://twitter.com/RCamposDuffy/status/1768088990131847678" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. &#8220;Purposely tanking recruitment of young Americans patriots to make room for the illegal mercenaries.&#8221;
&#8220;West Point has dropped ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from its mission statement and replaced it with the more generic ‘Army Values,'&#8221; conservative think tank Center for Renewing America said. &#8220;Is allegiance to country no longer a requirement for U.S. military service?&#8221;

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West Point Removes ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ From Mission Statement, Replaces With ‘Army Values’

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Students for Fair Admissions, the group that brought the lawsuit to the Supreme Court that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-issues-landmark-ruling-on-affirmative-action-at-universities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ended affirmative action</a> for admissions at colleges, is now targeting West Point military academy, filing a lawsuit asserting the academy discriminates against white applicants.
The SCOTUS ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts that ended affirmative action exempted military academies; Roberts wrote a footnote that military academies had “potentially distinct interests.”
“For most of its history, West Point has evaluated cadets based on merit and achievement,” the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/1ab01e56-458f-4df8-94f4-338d720fed51.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> — filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York — notes. “For good reasons: America’s enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, soldiers must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin.”
After pointing out that President Harry Truman desegregated the military, the lawsuit charges, “Over the past few decades, however, West Point has strayed from that approach. Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race. In fact, it openly publishes its racial composition ‘goals,’ and its director of admissions brags that race is wholly determinative for hundreds if not thousands of applicants.”
“West Point has no justification for using race-based admissions,” the lawsuit declares. “Those admissions are unconstitutional for all other public institutions of higher education.”
The lawsuit mentions two prospective candidates for West Point, both white, who joined Students for Fair Admissions in the lawsuit because they supports its mission. Both have excellent grade point averages, are in excellent physical condition, have family members who served in the military, and believe it would be an honor to serve their country.
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“Unless West Point is ordered to stop using race as a factor in admissions, his race will prevent him from competing for admission on an equal footing,” the lawsuit states of each candidate, adding that each preferred to remain pseudonymous, “because he is a high-school student, and he fears reprisal from West Point and others if his participation in this litigation becomes public.”
President Joe Biden has urged the military to continue filtering applications by race.

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Group That Ended Affirmative Action Admissions At Colleges Sues West Point, Claims Discrimination Against Whites

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/west-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Point</a> has begun to remove monuments and references that “commemorate or memorialize the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/confederacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Confederacy</a>,” the academy announced last week. 
The 220-year-old U.S. military academy said it had begun a “multi-phase” process over the holiday break to remove all 13 references and monuments that West Point says honor the Confederacy, including a portrait and bust of former West Point Superintendent Gen. Robert E. Lee, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/25/politics/west-point-to-remove-confederate-monuments/index.html">reported</a>. The removal is in response to an October order from the Department of Defense (DOD) mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act. 
“During the holiday break, we will begin a multi-phased process, in accordance with Department of Defense (DoD) directives, to remove, rename or modify assets and real property at the United States Military Academy (USMA) and West Point installation that commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy or those who voluntarily served with the Confederacy,” Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/naming-commission-report/superintendents-message">wrote</a> in a letter to the West Point community. 
Along with Lee’s portrait and bust, West Point is also replacing a quote from the southern general that is displayed at the campus’ Honor Plaza. Gilland wrote that a committee will determine a new quote that will replace Lee’s quote by the spring of 2023. 
At least three roads and three buildings on campus named after those who fought for the Confederacy will also be renamed by the spring of next year.
Lee’s portrait that was on display in the library will be moved to storage at the West Point Museum, while Lee’s bust is being moved to other storage, the general explained. A bronze triptych that <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/19nhxKfBungsgL1d157vjDUdAlk4V-8g8/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> Lee and other Confederate soldiers along with the words “Ku Klux Klan” will also be sent to storage “until a more suitable location is determined.”
“We will conduct these actions with dignity and respect,” Gilland wrote. 
A massive outcry against Confederate monuments hit the nation following the death of George Floyd in May of 2020, resulting in numerous statues being taken down. In September of 2021, the largest Confederate monument on display in the U.S., a statue of Lee, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/largest-confederate-statue-in-u-s-comes-down-in-virginia">taken down</a> in Richmond, Virginia. 
Earlier this month, the city of Richmond <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/city-digs-up-remains-of-confederate-general-after-taking-down-statue">dug up</a> the remains of Confederate General A.P. Hill as it continues to purge Confederate symbols and monuments from public spaces.

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West Point Begins Removing Confederate Monuments From Campus; Robert E. Lee Portrait And Bust Cleared Out

West Point Begins Removing Confederate Monuments From Campus, Including Robert E. Lee Portrait

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