This week we went to my alma mater West Point to participate in the annual Alumni Review and the 2019 Distinguished Graduate Award ceremony. Receiving West Point’s Distinguished Graduate Award in 2017 was the greatest honor of my life. I have tried to live a life of service, guided by the ideals of West Point – Duty, Honor, Country – so it was humbling to have the alumni of my alma mater, which I love and serve on the Board of the Association of Graduates, to believe I was deserving of this recognition.
This year there were five equally deserving graduates chosen to be Distinguished Graduates: General (Retired) David A. Bramlett (Class of 1964), Colonel (Retired) and Dr. Victor F. Garcia (Class of 1968), Lieutenant General (Retired) Robert L. VanAntwerp (Class of 1972), General (Retired) Walter L. Sharp (Class of 1974), and my classmate and former Superintendent Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen Jr. (Class of 1975). Here is a link to the criteria for selection: https://www.westpointaog.org/DGACriteria. Here is a link to the biographies of those selected this year: https://www.westpointaog.org/dgarecipientannouncement2019.
We were fortunate to spend time with our classmates and friends throughout our visit. Monday night we met Margaret and Sloan Gibson and Shelly and Bob Caslen in the Patton Lounge of The Thayer Hotel, where we stayed. Sloan, Bob, and I were classmates at West Point. Sloan went on to be the CEO of the USO, during which time he doubled giving, and then was Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was rewarding to be able to work with Sloan at VA forty years after we worked together helping to lead the Corps of Cadets. In 1974 to 1975 Sloan was Deputy Brigade Commander and I was Brigade Adjutant. In October, 1974, Sloan and I visited Bob in his office when he was Superintendent of West Point after taping a session with Scott Pelley for 60 Minutes that talked about the transformation we were leading at the VA.
We spent time with other classmates as well, during the Alumni Review, the DGA ceremony and lunch, and a reception in the Haig Room on top of the Jefferson Library that Shelly and Bob Caslen hosted. It was great to see Cara and Jack Craven, and Carl Barthelson. Jack, Carl, and I were all in Company G-2, and Carl and I were roommates.
The Alumni Review Tuesday morning was inspiring. Prior to the review Sloan and I joined the Oldest Living Graduate, Colonel Carter, Class of 1944 (the class that graduated on D-Day), a two star Combat Infantryman (meaning he fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam). We marched to the statue of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer (the Founder of the Military Academy), and Colonel Carter and the Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daryl Williams, placed a wreath on the statue. Colonel Carter, who is in his mid-nineties walked the entire way, without a cane or wheelchair. Sloan and I as Distinguished Graduates followed the new five Distinguished Graduates at the front of the procession. Of course, the new five Distinguished Graduates included our classmate and former Superintendent Bob Caslen.
After the wreath laying Sloan and I met several of our classmates at the Grant statue. They were taking pictures. Diane and I got a lot of positive comments about the statue. We walked on to join Diane and Margaret in the Superintendent’s Reviewing Box. We sat with Shelly Caslen and Erin Williams. The Alumni Review was a full Corps of Cadets review, about four thousand Cadets marched. The West Point band was superb. Chairman of the Association of Graduates Lieutenant General (Retired) Joe DeFrancisco presented the Distinguished Graduates Medals to the five new recipients during the review.
We walked to the Cadet Mess Hall in Washington Hall, where we had a delicious lunch. Diane and I were at the head table with LTG Williams and Erin. Diane sat on Daryl’s left. Here CEO of the Association of Graduates read off the five new Distinguished Graduate’s citations, and Daryl and Joe presented them with their framed certificates. It was a very distinguished group.
We walked to the Haig Room on top of the Jefferson Library for a reception of our class to honor Shelly and Bob Caslen. Many of my classmates were in attendance. Diane and I had to leave early to catch our flight back to Orlando. As always, it was an inspiring trip to West Point, which again underscored the enduring nature of the values of West Point: Duty, Honor, Country. At political and divided times like these it is important to remember that these touchstone values do not change and do endure. And there are Americans who live them every day.