On Saturday, over a thousand cadets of the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduated and joined the long gray line of such American heroes as U.S. Grant, William Sherman, Henry O. Flipper, and George Patton. President Donald Trump was the featured speaker, congratulating the cadets on their achievements.
I was at the graduation, since my brother graduated with honors and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army yesterday. He and his classmates are part of a proud tradition and have joined the Army of the greatest nation on earth, an Army which Trump assured the graduates is once again respected around the world. The U.S. military has always run into hell and sent “the devil into full retreat,” Trump enthusiastically declared.
The U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point was founded in 1802, on the site of a fort originally erected by George Washington with the design and oversight of Polish engineer and warrior Thaddeus Kosciuszko. The American Revolutionaries put a chain across the river — you can see the surviving links of the chain at USMA today — to block any enemy ships. It was such a strategic site that Benedict Arnold, when he turned traitor, sealed his treachery by offering the British West Point, of which he was put in command. Fortunately, his treachery was discovered through the capture of British spy Major Andre, who was subsequently executed (see Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow for a ghost story about Andre).
Congratulations to my brother and the whole West Point class of 2025!
— Catherine Salgado (@CatSalgado32) May 24, 2025
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Alexander Hamilton, as secretary of the Treasury, later purchased the land of West Point officially from the private owner. Then in 1802, under Thomas Jefferson, Congress established the USMA there, primarily to train engineers. It has since grown and expanded to train military in many specialty fields — although my brother and many others stick with the tradition of becoming Army engineers!
Trump said, “Every cadet in the field before me should savor this morning, because this is a day you will never, ever forget. In a few moments, you will become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history, and you will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known.” He later added, “Mission accomplished.”
Many of the president’s statements were greeted with cheers from the corps of cadets and the audience, especially when he discussed his recruiting success and plans to strengthen our military. At one point, Trump laughed and turned to address the underclassmen cadets in the stands because they gave him such a loud cheer. The atmosphere was full of optimism and patriotic fervor.
Too many young Americans are never taught history or are encouraged to hate this nation. It was encouraging to see so many young Americans at West Point who worked so hard to qualify for and graduate from a historic institution with statues, monuments, and museums everywhere. You can see George Washington’s pistols, George Patton’s statue, Mussolini’s dagger, and the overlook where Washington and Kosciuszko planned their fort. Cadets walk past Civil War cannons, WWI artillery, and the links of the Revolutionary War chain on their way to class and dinner.
Just as the statue of Washington overlooks the field where cadets drill, no doubt he and the other American heroes connected to West Point are proud of the patriots just commissioned second lieutenants as part of the long gray line.
