RELEASE NO. 25-06

BROKAW TO RECEIVE THAYER AWARD – Sept. 14, 2006

WEST POINT , N.Y. – The Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy will present this year’s Sylvanus Thayer Award to renowned news correspondent Thomas J. Brokaw.

Brokaw will receive the award from AOG officials during a dinner ceremony Thursday, Sept. 21.  The Corps of Cadets will conduct a review in his honor at 5 p.m. on the Plain before the presentation.  The review is open to the public. 

Brokaw has been an icon on NBC News since joining the network as a California correspondent in 1966.  In 1971, he became the White House Correspondent until taking over as the host of the Today Show in 1976.  Brokaw hosted the Today Show for five years until he became co-anchor of NBC’s Nightly News with Roger Mudd, eventually becoming the show’s sole anchor and managing editor in 1983, a title he held until 2004. 

He has received scores of prestigious awards and honors, including numerous Emmy Awards; two Peabody Awards; induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame; election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the author of several books. 

The Thayer Award, set up in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, “Father of the Military Academy ,” is presented to an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify the Military Academy motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.”  The Association of Graduates has presented the award annually since 1958.

Past recipients of the Thayer Award include:  Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, George Bush, Barbara Jordan, Walter Cronkite, Colin Powell and Henry Kissenger.  Last year’s recipient was retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

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