Is LTG Gilland’s West Point Following Biden’s Lead In Forgetting Our Fallen Service members?
By John Hughes
September 7, 2023
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Old section of West Point's Cemetery
Public Domain
The American Battle Monuments Commission has some excellent videos posted on YouTube that show overseas military cemeteries for US servicemembers from past wars. The Commission was created in 1923 to build and maintain overseas cemeteries to honor US war dead in foreign wars. Each clip ends with the following quote:
“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.”
General of the Armies, John J. Pershing
Last week I returned to my Alma Mater, West Point, for a conference that was held on 30-31 August 2023. In the evenings, I visited the West Point Cemetery to see my grandfather’s grave (West Point Class of 1940). I had not been to West Point since 2001 and could not help but notice a recent and tragic addition to the hallowed grounds – the section for graduates that fell in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 90 members of the Long Gray Line were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many are buried at West Point.
The DEI Conference I attended convened with LTG Gilland and his command team speaking for over an hour. Much of their discussion was focused on promoting DEI and complaining about the inconvenience placed on the Superintendent by Congress by demanding testimony in July 2023 about Congressional concerns for DEI’s harms. Self-preservation seemed to be the priority. The conference had a mix of military and civilian speakers, many from West Point, who droned on about the strategic imperative for imposing DEI on our force to win future wars. There was no scheduled discussion nor even mention of America’s Longest War that ended shamefully just 2 years before in a loss. No invocation or prayer. No moment of silence on 31 August. The only mention of the war was by me during the last question and answer session when I pointed out that DEI was not one of the top 10 reasons for the loss in Afghanistan and how astonishing it was that USMA seemed to be closing the book on Afghanistan. No official introspection, no resolve to identify and fix issues such as senior leadership shortfalls. Just no mention at all. It is as if the tombstones magically appeared in the cemetery and the fallen officers’ sacrifices were in vain. Identity politics and the “me” mentality seems to be far more important to the cadets and officers in attendance.
https://armedforces.press/is-ltg-gillands-west-point-following-bidens-lead-in-forgetting-our-fallen-service-members/
