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Military Academy: Difference between revisions
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Unlike previous conflicts, the Korean War did not disrupt class graduation schedules. More than half of the Army leadership during the war was composed of West Point graduates. The Class of 1950, which graduated only two weeks prior to the war's outbreak, suffered some of the heaviest casualties of any 20th century class and became known sourly as "the class the crosses fell on." A total of 157 alumni perished in the conflict.<ref name="coldwar">{{cite web|title=Meeting the challenges of the Cold War|publisher=United States Military Academy|url=http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1950.asp|access-date=20 January 2009|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118081454/http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1950.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Garrison H. Davidson]] became superintendent in 1956 and instituted several reforms that included refining the admissions process, changing the core curriculum to include electives, and increasing the academic degree standards for academy instructors.<ref name="coldwar"/> The 1960s saw the size of the Corps expand to 4,400 cadets while the barracks and academic support structure grew proportionally.{{sfnp|Ambrose|1966|p=230}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840798,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522045849/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840798,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 May 2009 |title=Hilton on the Hudson |magazine=Time| publisher=Time Inc |date=23 December 1966|access-date=25 January 2009}}</ref> | Unlike previous conflicts, the Korean War did not disrupt class graduation schedules. More than half of the Army leadership during the war was composed of West Point graduates. The Class of 1950, which graduated only two weeks prior to the war's outbreak, suffered some of the heaviest casualties of any 20th century class and became known sourly as "the class the crosses fell on." A total of 157 alumni perished in the conflict.<ref name="coldwar">{{cite web|title=Meeting the challenges of the Cold War|publisher=United States Military Academy|url=http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1950.asp|access-date=20 January 2009|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118081454/http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1950.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Garrison H. Davidson]] became superintendent in 1956 and instituted several reforms that included refining the admissions process, changing the core curriculum to include electives, and increasing the academic degree standards for academy instructors.<ref name="coldwar"/> The 1960s saw the size of the Corps expand to 4,400 cadets while the barracks and academic support structure grew proportionally.{{sfnp|Ambrose|1966|p=230}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840798,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522045849/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840798,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 May 2009 |title=Hilton on the Hudson |magazine=Time| publisher=Time Inc |date=23 December 1966|access-date=25 January 2009}}</ref> | ||
West Point was not immune to the social upheaval of American society during the | West Point was not immune to the social upheaval of American society during the Vietnam War.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/21/archives/is-west-point-troglodytic-a-critical-look-at-the-way-the-army.html |title=Is West Point Troglodytic?; A Critical Look at The Way the Army Trains Its Cadets |last=Bunting |first=Josiah |access-date=25 January 2009 |date=21 November 1970 |work=The New York Times |page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829847,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222102933/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829847,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 December 2008 |title=West Point & All That |publisher=Time Inc.|magazine=Time|access-date=25 January 2009|date=8 February 1963}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904585,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211071235/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904585,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 February 2009 |title=Humanizing the U.S. Military |access-date=25 January 2009|date=21 December 1970|magazine=Time| publisher=Time Inc}}</ref> The first woman joined the faculty of the all-male institution amidst controversy in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/02/02/archives/first-for-west-point-a-woman-teacher.html |title=First for West Point: A Woman Teacher |date=2 February 1968 |access-date=25 January 2009|page=37 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> West Point granted its first [[honorable discharge]] in 1971 to an African-American West Point cadet, Cornelius M. Cooper, of California, who applied for [[conscientious objector]] status in 1969.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schumach|first=Murray|date=1971-02-13|title=West Point Alumnus Released Honorably As a War Objector|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/13/archives/west-point-alumnus-released-honorably-as-a-war-objector-west-point.html|access-date=2021-12-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The academy struggled to fill its incoming classes as its graduates led troops in Southeast Asia, where 333 graduates died.<ref>"In Memory of Our Classmates who Fell in Vietnam" by Ron Meier USMA '66</ref><ref name="changeform">{{cite web |url=http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1970.asp|title=The Long Gray Line Changes Formation|work=USMA Bicentennial|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=16 December 2008|archive-date=8 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108061545/http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1970.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> | ||
=== Modern era === | === Modern era === | ||
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The academy has graduated many notable leaders since its inception in 1802. During the Civil War, a West Point graduate commanded one or both armies in every one of the 60 major battles of the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Officers in the Civil War |url=https://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Civil War in the East |language=en-US}}</ref> Graduates included [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[George McClellan]], [[George G. Meade]], [[Phillip Sheridan]], [[William Tecumseh Sherman]], [[John Bell Hood]], [[Stonewall Jackson]], [[Robert E. Lee]], [[Simon Bolivar Buckner]], [[James Longstreet]], [[J.E.B. Stuart]] and [[Oliver O. Howard]].{{NoteTag|Howard was later known for the founding of [[Howard University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief History |publisher=Howard University |url = http://www.howard.edu/explore/History.htm |access-date=19 January 2008 }}</ref>}} [[George Armstrong Custer]] graduated last in his class of 1861.{{sfnp|Eicher|2001|p=196|ps={{cnf|date=December 2024}}}} The [[Spanish–American War]] saw the first combat service of Lt. (later, Brigadier General) [[John Henry Parker (General)|John "Gatling Gun" Parker]], the first Army officer to employ machine guns in offensive fire support of infantry and Brig. General [[Irving Hale]], who holds the highest grade point average from the Academy, and helped found the VFW.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://vfwpost1.org/about/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=VFW Post 1 |language=en-US}}</ref> | The academy has graduated many notable leaders since its inception in 1802. During the Civil War, a West Point graduate commanded one or both armies in every one of the 60 major battles of the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Officers in the Civil War |url=https://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Civil War in the East |language=en-US}}</ref> Graduates included [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[George McClellan]], [[George G. Meade]], [[Phillip Sheridan]], [[William Tecumseh Sherman]], [[John Bell Hood]], [[Stonewall Jackson]], [[Robert E. Lee]], [[Simon Bolivar Buckner]], [[James Longstreet]], [[J.E.B. Stuart]] and [[Oliver O. Howard]].{{NoteTag|Howard was later known for the founding of [[Howard University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief History |publisher=Howard University |url = http://www.howard.edu/explore/History.htm |access-date=19 January 2008 }}</ref>}} [[George Armstrong Custer]] graduated last in his class of 1861.{{sfnp|Eicher|2001|p=196|ps={{cnf|date=December 2024}}}} The [[Spanish–American War]] saw the first combat service of Lt. (later, Brigadier General) [[John Henry Parker (General)|John "Gatling Gun" Parker]], the first Army officer to employ machine guns in offensive fire support of infantry and Brig. General [[Irving Hale]], who holds the highest grade point average from the Academy, and helped found the VFW.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://vfwpost1.org/about/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=VFW Post 1 |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
During World War I, academy alumni included [[General of the Armies]] [[John J. Pershing]], and Major Generals [[Charles T. Menoher]] and [[Mason Patrick]]. West Point was the alma mater of many notable World War II generals, [[Henry H. Arnold]], [[Omar Bradley]], [[Mark Wayne Clark]], [[Robert L. Eichelberger]], [[James M. Gavin]], [[Leslie Groves]], [[Douglas MacArthur]], [[George S. Patton]], [[Joseph Stilwell]], [[Maxwell D. Taylor]], [[James Van Fleet]], [[Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV]], and [[Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.]] the highest ranking General to be killed in combat during World War II, with many of these graduates also serving in commanding roles in the Korean War. During the | During World War I, academy alumni included [[General of the Armies]] [[John J. Pershing]], and Major Generals [[Charles T. Menoher]] and [[Mason Patrick]]. West Point was the alma mater of many notable World War II generals, [[Henry H. Arnold]], [[Omar Bradley]], [[Mark Wayne Clark]], [[Robert L. Eichelberger]], [[James M. Gavin]], [[Leslie Groves]], [[Douglas MacArthur]], [[George S. Patton]], [[Joseph Stilwell]], [[Maxwell D. Taylor]], [[James Van Fleet]], [[Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV]], and [[Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.]] the highest ranking General to be killed in combat during World War II, with many of these graduates also serving in commanding roles in the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, notable graduates general officers included [[Creighton Abrams]], [[Hal Moore]], and [[William Westmoreland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usma.edu/bicentennial/history/NotableGrads.asp|title=Notable USMA Graduates|work=USMA Bicentennial|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=4 January 2009|archive-date=18 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518095835/http://www.usma.edu/bicentennial/history/NotableGrads.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> West Point also produced some famous generals and statesmen of recent note including [[John Abizaid]], [[Stanley A. McChrystal]], [[Wesley Clark]], [[Alexander Haig]], [[Barry McCaffrey]], [[Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.]], [[Brent Scowcroft]], [[Lloyd Austin]], and former [[Director of the Central Intelligence Agency]], retired General [[David Petraeus]]. | ||
A total of 76 graduates have been awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref>{{cite web|title=West Point Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients|publisher=Medalofhonor.com |url=http://www.medalofhonor.com/WestPoint.htm|access-date=20 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630233102/http://www.medalofhonor.com/WestPoint.htm |archive-date=30 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> | A total of 76 graduates have been awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref>{{cite web|title=West Point Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients|publisher=Medalofhonor.com |url=http://www.medalofhonor.com/WestPoint.htm|access-date=20 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630233102/http://www.medalofhonor.com/WestPoint.htm |archive-date=30 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> | ||