CalExpeditions

Colonel Inspects West Point

Written by

dennis

in

I made a surprise inspection trip to the US Military Academy, aka West Point. Coincidentally, it is in a town of the same name, West Point, NY! Did you know that it is the longest serving post in the US military? It is! It has been continually occupied since the war of independence, when the Americans ran the super-mean Brits out of the continent.

West Point, as I suppose you know, is the world’s premier military officer training institution. It has produced many of the Nation’s most gifted and brave officers. Regrettably, it has also produced a host of traitors, like Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and a slew of other rebels. It has also produced a few genocidal jackasses, like George Custer. In all fairness, we can’t pin the genocidal part on Custer, as it was Government policy at the time. On the other hand, he earned the jackass part on his own. How? By getting his unit wiped out in an ill-advised attack on the native Americans like…well…a jackass.

The site itself is beautiful, perched on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson River. The grounds are immaculate, green and thriving.

West Point has a quite large and ornate chapel. Did you know the chapel’s organ is the 3rd largest (by number of pipes) in the world? It is, with over 23,000 pipes.
West Pointers are fond of the words Duty, Honor, Country and plaster them all over campus.
I was surprised that there were so many cadets buried in the cemetery…as cadets, before they graduated! Don’t know why, exactly. Maybe the lack of medicine in the old days? Maybe a primitive view of safety in training?
Examples of Government housing.
The Army has delicate tanks that cannot withstand people climbing on them.
Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory.” –Douglas MacArthur
The view of the Hudson from West Point is inspiring.
Maybe you can see Xena, lounging with her arm draped over like a boss.
This is the view from my campsite at the West Point FamCamp.
The way there.

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