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                         July 19, 2002

Cadets march in Bastille Day Parade

U.S. Military Academy cadets, staff and faculty members participate as part of official exchange visit

By Andrea Hamburger
USMA Deputy PAO

More than 160 West Point cadets marched down the Champs d’Elysee Sunday as the lead unit in the Bastille Day parade.

The trip is part of an official exchange visit.  More than 190 members of the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr, the French equivalent of West Point, traveled to the academy graduation week where they participated in the graduation parade and attended the June 1 graduation ceremony of the Class of 2002.

West Point Superintendent, Lt. Gen. William J. Lennox Jr., said both visits symbolize the long-standing relationship between our respective academies and nations.

That relationship was evident as throngs of cheering Parisians stood 12 deep to watch the U.S. Corp of Cadets’ Bicentennial Honor Company march past. Cadet 1st Class Jermaine Carroll, Bicentennial Honor Company Commander, said he was amazed at the reception.

"I was thrilled that we were shown so much respect," he said. "They [the French] treated us like celebrities."

In Saturday’s Le Figaro, a prominent French newspaper, Minister of Defense Michele Alliot-Marie was quoted as saying "This prestigious school [West Point] will open the parade as a testimony of the friendship that binds France and the United States."

The cadets began their march at the Rond Point, approximately one mile from the location where a lone gunman fired at president Jacques Chirac. The event did not disrupt the parade and those participating were not even aware it had occurred.

The cadets moved along the half-mile route accompanied by the strains of the West Point March, to La Place de la Concorde, where honors were rendered to Chirac.

Lennox said he felt the journey to France was well worth it for both the academies and the countries.

"I was so proud of the way our cadets represented the US MA, the Army and America," he said. "They made such a positive impression on the French people."

The Bastille Day parade included cadets from L’Ecole Polytechnique and St. Cyr, mounted Republican Guards, branches of every service including the Foreign Legion, tons of mechanized equipment, 5,000 assorted marchers and approximately 100 military jets and helicopters streaming the red, white and blue of the French flag overhead.

A New York City Fire Department pumper was also part of the parade and became another popular sight for onlookers. Relatives of the firefighters killed Sept. 11, 2001, were invited to France as guests of the Paris Fire Brigade.

This year’s Bastille Day Parade celebrated the Bicentennial of the French Legion of Honor, which was awarded to West Point following WWII in recognition of the contribution of academy graduates in the liberation of France. Two other Bicentennials were also commemorated: the founding of the West Point and St. Cyr Military Academies.