"The Impact of an Institution"

The thick steel door, standing twice my height, slammed shut with an eerie finality. Everything seems to have an inflated, even ominous importance when one is a plebe at West Point. Standing just outside Cullum Hall on this windy night, I relished a rare moment of solitude. At the United States Military Academy, one spends virtually every minute of every day in the company of others. Studying, sleeping, marching, showering, running, eating, training, testing, sweating -- you are never alone. A plebe's schedule, in particular, mandates group activity. No fourth classman can make it alone, because many tasks, even one as mundane as delivering upperclass laundry bundles, require the help of one's classmates.

Architecturally, West Point is the kind of legacy that any architect might have dreamed of leaving behind. The warrior's ego carved into thick, unmoving granite. As my eyes took it all in, I began to understand why so many had felt compelled to voice an opinion on what West Point should represent, or unleash some accolade for her spirituality, tactical significance, beauty or institutional excellence.

General Patton, Class of 1909, called West Point "a holy place." George Washington, during the revolution, deemed West Point "the key to the continent." Charles Dickens said of the Academy, "It could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground more beautiful can hardly be. The course of education is severe, but well devised and manly…" And President Andrew Jackson stated categorically that West Point was "the best school in the world."

Unknown to most Americans, West Point is the oldest regularly garrisoned military post in the United States -- continuously occupied since January 20, 1778. In 1802, only two years before Napoleon became Emperor of France, Congress established the United States Military Academy at West Point. Annapolis, the Naval Academy, would not appear until 1845; the Air Force Academy not until 1954.

What most Americans do know, however, is that Benedict Arnold -- the most infamous traitor in American history -- tried to sell the plans of West Point to the British for 20,000 pounds sterling and a commission in the British Army.

I stared at The Plain as I continued my solitary walk. On this very parade ground Baron Von Steuben had drilled American Forces in preparation for the Seizure of Stony Point. Just hours ago, I had marched in a parade on the same field.

Marching is a big part of West Point's public persona, but academics are the top priority. West Point is the nation's first engineering school. It was the only engineering school in the United States for nearly 20 years. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was not founded until 1824 and graduated its first class of civil engineers, four men, in 1835. many of Rensselaer's textbooks originated at West Point. It was not until 1847 that engineering programs were established at Harvard (the Lawrence Scientific School) and Yale ( the Sheffield Scientific School), and when they were, both were established and run by West Pointers.

I glanced back at Doubleday Field, named after the West Pointer sometimes credited with inventing the sport of baseball. He also had fired the first return shot from Fort Sumter in 1861 and fought at Gettysburg. Just one more of so many graduates serving as role models for those of us in newly issued gray. Lieutenant General Dave Palmer, former Superintendent, was fond of the phrase, "Much of the history we teach is made by those we taught." But it was President Theodore Roosevelt who pulled no punches at the Academy's centennial celebration when he said, "This institution has completed its first hundred years of life. During that century, no other institution in the land has contributed so many names as West Point has to the honor roll of the Nation's greatest citizens." President Roosevelt would witness only a small part of the legacy that was West Point. Academy officers would achieve prominence for many years to come. One feels somewhat strange being associated with this group. It has a way of creating enormous, possibly unrealistic, expectations. I went back in memory, trying to take measure of all the leaders who had left foot prints on the path I now walked. It wasn't difficult; as plebes we are required to memorize the legacies of many of those who preceded us.

The military leaders were the first to come to mind. In the Civil War there were 60 significant battles. Fifty-five of them were commanded on both sides by West Pointers; the remaining five had a "grad" commanding one of the sides. The Union forces utilized Grant, Sherman, Meade and Sheridan, to name a few. The South claimed Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, and Braxton Bragg among their many. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, was West Point Class of 1828.

During World War I, 34 of the 38 corps and division commanders in France between 1917 and 1918 were West Pointers. General Pershing, Class of 1886, commanded the American Expeditionary Forces.

World War II dubbed West Point's class of 1915 the "Class the Stars Fell On." Fifty-nine out of 164 graduates would reach brigadier general or higher. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, both from that class, would achieve five-star rank. James Van Fleet would later become Commanding General of the Eighth U.S. Army in Korea. Of the five men ever to hold the rank of five-star general -- Arnold, Bradley, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Marshall -- four had been West Pointers (Marshall was V.M.I). MacArthur went on to become the most decorated soldier in American history. His 59 decorations, 16 oak leaf clusters, and 18 campaign stars included America's highest award, the Medal of Honor. The Long Gray Line's other World War contributors included Patton, Clark, Stilwell, and Wainwright. And I was reminded of Leslie Groves who commanded the Manhattan Project. Half of the division commanders in WWII were West Pointers, including Gavin '29 and Ridgway '17 with the 82d Airborne an McAuliffe '18 with the 101st at Bastogne.

West Point is so quickly associated in the mind with the uniformed military that most forget its impact on civilian America. Putting aside the ascendancy of Grant and Ike to the Presidency, West Point has left few trails unexplored. Over 100 West Pointers have been members of U.S. Olympic teams, and three have won the Heisman trophy: Glenn Davis, Felix "Doc" Blanchard, and Pete Dawkins. Seventy-Four have been awarded Rhodes scholarships, making West Point the fourth ranking source of Rhodes scholars in the nation, even though graduates were not allowed to compete until 1925.

West Point's contributions in space exploration are often overlooked. Six of the first 130 astronauts were graduates. This group included Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, Apollo 11 pilots who were part of the first manned landing on the moon. Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon. Frank Borman commanded a spacecraft during the first rendezvous in space, and Ed White, who would later die in a launch fire at Cape Kennedy, had been the first man to walk in space. West Point has produced 15 astronauts up to this point and always had an intimate relationship with aviation. It all started back in 1908, when the first man killed in an airplane was West Pointer Thomas Selfridge, Class of '03. He had been riding with Orville Wright, who survived the crash. During World War II, West Point was the Air Force Academy -- the Army Air Force Academy.

The Academy's zest for exploration was not limited to the air. West Pointers led the way in westward expansion of the United States. James Allen, Class of 1829, discovered the sources of the Mississippi River, and Captain Bonneville, Class of 1815, explored the Yellowstone River and the salt flats that bear his name.

West Point engineers have played a no less important role in America's development than her explorers. From flood control projects to hydroelectric plants, from highways to waterways, USMA was there. Goethals, Class of 1880, ran the building of the Panama Canal. Green, Class of 1923, designed New York City's water supply system. Casey, Class of 1852, helped build the Library of Congress. Meigs, Class of 1836, built the wings and dome of the Capital in Washington, D.C. and Humphreys and Abbot, both "grads," designed the locks and hydraulics on the Mississippi River.

More recently, Major General William E. Potter, Class of 1928, was the engineer in charge of building Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and James B. Endler, Class of 1953, was the engineer who coordinated the building of the Epcot Center.

Ironically, two of the most famous West Pointers never obtained their degrees -- Edgar Allen Poe and James Abbot McNeill Whistler. Poe, arguably the greatest American lyric poet, was a cadet from 1830-1831. At Superintendent Thayer's prompting, Poe sold subscriptions to his fellow cadets to help finance the publishing of his third book of poetry. He dedicated the book to the Untied States Corps of Cadets. Poe later was expelled for "gross neglect of duty." Whistler, the famous American artist, whose father was Class of '18 and inventor of the locomotive whistle, enjoyed only his engineering drawing class. Required to draw a bridge, he drew three boys relaxing on it. Reprimanded, he drew the boys on the river bank. After a final admonishment, he drew three tiny gravestones on the grass near the bridge. He was dismissed for conduct and Chemistry after three years. At West Point, no one disobeys orders with impunity.

I approach Battle Monument, the largest shaft of polished, turned granite in the Western Hemisphere -- dedicated to the soldiers of the Regular Army killed in the Civil War. Inscribed on various sections of the monument are 2,230 names, representing only a minuscule portion of the total war dead. Death is all around you at West Point. Cullum Memorial Hall, where I had spent most of the evening, was a building dedicated to death and sacrifice. The names of deceased West Pointers line the interior walls of that unique building. There is little room left for memorialization. Every inch of hallway, every wall from top to bottom, every staircase, even some of the bathrooms, were covered with portraits and brass plaques honoring the dead. The main ballroom displayed the names of bloody battles from the War of 1812 to the Spanish American War, with emphasis on the Civil War -- Chancellorsville, Antietam, Shiloh, Vicksburg.

I glanced at the trophy cannon, positioned all over Trophy Point, and then forward to the statue of MacArthur by the barracks. History is everything. It makes up most of the Plebe poop, and it defines the Academy's image of itself. I silently recited the last verse of the Corps, a song that all plebes were required to commit to memory:

"The long gray line of us stretches
Through the years of a century told,
And the last man feels to his marrow
The grip of the far off hold.
Grip hands with us now, though we see not,
Grip hands with us, strengthen our hears --
As the long line stiffens and straightens
With the thrill that your presence imparts.
Grip hands -- though it be from the shadows --
While we swear, as you did of yore,
Of living, or dying, to honor
The Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps!"

As I turned toward the barracks entrance, I sensed the feeling of intense pride that all West Pointers know at one moment in time. But I had only to encounter one upperclassman before the day-to-day regimen reminded me once again of my plebeian status in our nation's honor roll.

As each new class enters the United States Military Academy, this renowned leader development institution will continue to affect the progress of our nation in the 21st Century. The depth and breadth of the West Point experience provides our nation with U.S. Army officers - leaders of character who are inspired to careers as commissioned officers and lifetime service to the nation. The challenging life of an Army officer is rewarded with the satisfaction of honorably serving out country.