Duty – Honor – Country. Those three hallowed words, reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage, when courage seems to fail; to regain faith, when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
I recall that well. Colonel Ripley and VMI Board of Visitors President, Joe Spivey are friends (were friends in John Ripley's case, RIP) and they kept me informed almost daily about what was happening in the trial. What Northam and VMI did to General Jackson is just inexcusable. You have hit my hot button (one of several).
Yet another (key) step closer in the march to Socialism. This has the fingerprints of Austin the Idiot doing the bidding of his Puppet Masters. I am not a Gray Hog according to the standards in place today, but this action has angered me greatly.
The final sentence of the next to last paragraph of MacArthur's speech mentions drums. They do not beat a "role", but instead, beat a "roll". More importantly, he did not speak of an imaginary "musket tree", but to the real and ominous rattle of distant musketry.
Typos dilute what is one of the most beautiful speeches ever made.
In 2003 the Air Force Academy, from where I graduated in 1975, removed the "Bring Me Men" sign in two foot-high brushed aluminum letters that stood above the main ramp leading to the cadet area. It was based on a poem by Sam Walter Foss "Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains..." as an inspiration to the cadets. With the Rocky Mountains which form the backdrop of the Academy it was very fitting. Many critics had suggested the removal beginning in 1999, as it was not considered inclusive of women. The Academy resisted for historical reasons, but a sexual abuse case in 2003 provided the pretext needed. Now on the wall above the Warrior Ramp are the Academy's "Core Values:" "Integrity First. Service Before Self. Excellence in All We Do" Upon learning this I wrote to the Academy Superintendent and told him straight away that this new motto sounded like something out of a 1990s Total Quality Management (TQM) corporate training seminar. He was good enough to write back, but I knew then this type of rewriting of history, the country's cultural "evolution, and the weakening of the service academies’ ethos and traditions, were not going away, and as recent events have shown, it will only get worse.
There no way anyone can defend the indefensible, replacing duty, honor and country which symbolizes why serving in the U.S. Military was a honorable calling and those that gave their lives in defending their country was the ultimate sacrifice of why defending freedom comes with a cost. Just another ruse in destroying the greatest military in world history. I am surprised they didn’t replace the motto with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which is destroying the Military from within. For all who served and died I am sure they’re rolling over in their graves in disgust.
VMI class of 1970…ya’ll have been putting up with this woke shit longer than we have - we didn’t have to take women til 1997 after RBG’s wrecking ball…but they’ve gone for all of our traditions, on steroids since Ralph Northam was gov and they put in the DEI superintendent….not sure how much longer this can all go on….
This is truly shocking, but nothing should surprise us any more. Removing all honor and integrity from our Armed Forces, especially it's leaders, seems to be what the left wants. What we the people want is exactly the opposite. We want a return to integrity and honor in our government and are Armed Forces.
USMA BoV meeting minutes from the 28 Mar 23 BoV meeting reflect that “LTG Gilland added that USMA was considering simplifying the mission statement, so people better understand what the Academy does and reviewing the Honor Code to make it more aspirational”. (See para 8 Superintendent’s update on page 3.
On 10/3/23 i wrote LTG requesting to know details. Letter is still unanswered. Further have requested of the USMA BoV that they request clarification from USMA and LTG on what is being undertaken to make the Honor Code aspirational.
Request to BoV was sent to every Congressional member directly and through the official pOC for the BoV. BoV btw has five (5) USMA graduates on it ( three congressmen; two Presidential appointees). Not one graduate on the BoV raised any question on his statement. None have answered my requests,
nor has the BoV as a body requested any details from USMA / LTG Gilland. I have thus requested their collective resignations (letters are public record in BoV minutes).
An aspirational Honor Code is likely the next announcement. There will be no consideration to the concerns of Graduates. Do not be surprised!
USCGA '84. I stopped renewing my alumni membership over woke policies. CGA refuses to release a rejection list of applicants. Suspect many overqualified white straight males are denied admission to meet social quotas. Many socially favorable tribes have special support groups and have vast resources spent on recruitment and retention. SWM has no such advantages.
I recall that well. Colonel Ripley and VMI Board of Visitors President, Joe Spivey are friends (were friends in John Ripley's case, RIP) and they kept me informed almost daily about what was happening in the trial. What Northam and VMI did to General Jackson is just inexcusable. You have hit my hot button (one of several).
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Let's be frank, I don't think the current administration wants people who are honorable or care about their country.
I am an AFA grad, class of 79, LCWB. The woke shit at the Academies is out of control. I have stopped donating to the AOG.
Yet another (key) step closer in the march to Socialism. This has the fingerprints of Austin the Idiot doing the bidding of his Puppet Masters. I am not a Gray Hog according to the standards in place today, but this action has angered me greatly.
Duty-Honor-Country: Well defined, succinct, timeless.
Army values: Amorphous, indefinite, depends on the whims of the social elite.
Unless the politicization of our armed forces is stopped, and soon, we'll be singing "The East is Red" as our national anthem in short order.
And what happened to “country”? BTW, those seven Army “values” read like a USG employee’s job description metric.
The final sentence of the next to last paragraph of MacArthur's speech mentions drums. They do not beat a "role", but instead, beat a "roll". More importantly, he did not speak of an imaginary "musket tree", but to the real and ominous rattle of distant musketry.
Typos dilute what is one of the most beautiful speeches ever made.
In 2003 the Air Force Academy, from where I graduated in 1975, removed the "Bring Me Men" sign in two foot-high brushed aluminum letters that stood above the main ramp leading to the cadet area. It was based on a poem by Sam Walter Foss "Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains..." as an inspiration to the cadets. With the Rocky Mountains which form the backdrop of the Academy it was very fitting. Many critics had suggested the removal beginning in 1999, as it was not considered inclusive of women. The Academy resisted for historical reasons, but a sexual abuse case in 2003 provided the pretext needed. Now on the wall above the Warrior Ramp are the Academy's "Core Values:" "Integrity First. Service Before Self. Excellence in All We Do" Upon learning this I wrote to the Academy Superintendent and told him straight away that this new motto sounded like something out of a 1990s Total Quality Management (TQM) corporate training seminar. He was good enough to write back, but I knew then this type of rewriting of history, the country's cultural "evolution, and the weakening of the service academies’ ethos and traditions, were not going away, and as recent events have shown, it will only get worse.
There no way anyone can defend the indefensible, replacing duty, honor and country which symbolizes why serving in the U.S. Military was a honorable calling and those that gave their lives in defending their country was the ultimate sacrifice of why defending freedom comes with a cost. Just another ruse in destroying the greatest military in world history. I am surprised they didn’t replace the motto with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which is destroying the Military from within. For all who served and died I am sure they’re rolling over in their graves in disgust.
VMI class of 1970…ya’ll have been putting up with this woke shit longer than we have - we didn’t have to take women til 1997 after RBG’s wrecking ball…but they’ve gone for all of our traditions, on steroids since Ralph Northam was gov and they put in the DEI superintendent….not sure how much longer this can all go on….
I only had to read the title, today's brass find those three words antithetical.
The only acceptable commitments today are to degeneracy in all its forms.
This is truly shocking, but nothing should surprise us any more. Removing all honor and integrity from our Armed Forces, especially it's leaders, seems to be what the left wants. What we the people want is exactly the opposite. We want a return to integrity and honor in our government and are Armed Forces.
Some background:
USMA BoV meeting minutes from the 28 Mar 23 BoV meeting reflect that “LTG Gilland added that USMA was considering simplifying the mission statement, so people better understand what the Academy does and reviewing the Honor Code to make it more aspirational”. (See para 8 Superintendent’s update on page 3.
On 10/3/23 i wrote LTG requesting to know details. Letter is still unanswered. Further have requested of the USMA BoV that they request clarification from USMA and LTG on what is being undertaken to make the Honor Code aspirational.
Request to BoV was sent to every Congressional member directly and through the official pOC for the BoV. BoV btw has five (5) USMA graduates on it ( three congressmen; two Presidential appointees). Not one graduate on the BoV raised any question on his statement. None have answered my requests,
nor has the BoV as a body requested any details from USMA / LTG Gilland. I have thus requested their collective resignations (letters are public record in BoV minutes).
An aspirational Honor Code is likely the next announcement. There will be no consideration to the concerns of Graduates. Do not be surprised!
Wally Heinz
USMA 1971
USCGA '84. I stopped renewing my alumni membership over woke policies. CGA refuses to release a rejection list of applicants. Suspect many overqualified white straight males are denied admission to meet social quotas. Many socially favorable tribes have special support groups and have vast resources spent on recruitment and retention. SWM has no such advantages.
How about this:
“Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night:Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”.
No, doesn’t quite do the trick. Really sad.
It’s time for at least 50% cut in the military budget. No point in giving these people almost a trillion dollars a year to waste.