West Point, 2005, by Padraic O'Shea
From MemoryArchive
Who: Padraic O'Shea What: Visit to West Point When: July, 2005 Where: West Point Military Academy
During the summer of 2005 I had just graduated from high school and was enjoying my summer before heading off to college in August. My best friend in high school had applied and been accepted at West Point. For the cadets basic training starts in July and lasts till school starts in August. When his family decided to drive from Iowa to West Point they asked me to go along. Once we arrived at West Point Military Academy, I was pretty much in awe the entire time. It was very strange waiting in a line of cars to go through a military checkpoint and onto a military base. They took our IDs, walked around the car, and opened all the doors and even had cameras look at the bottom of the car. Once inside we had time to tour the base at our leisure. For those who have never been there, the base is huge! It goes up into the mountains and spreads all along a valley. There is so much history there, we went and saw the chain that George Washington ordered strung across the Hudson river to stop British ships from sailing up it. We witnessed the new cadets getting their heads shaved and their first drilling experience while being yelled at by loud, rude Drill Sergeants, and even watched the new recruits march in their first parade march. All around the camp there were old cannons that had been turned upside down with their barrels burried in the ground. None of us could figure out why until an old man walking through the parks heard us talking about it, he told us the cannons had all been used during the civil war, by both the Union and the Confederates, during the civil war and that they were burried muzzle down in order to symbolize that these guns would never again be turned on their own country men again. To sum up the day the new cadets, my friend included, put on a parade. It seems the only thing they had been able to accomplish with a days worth of drilling was how to march, many were out of stride, together. They then lined up on the parade field and took their oath to serve and protect the United States. This was the most memorable part of West Point, it was funny seeing all of the newly shaven heads and the new cadets trying to stay in stride; but it was very emotional when they started saying their oath. To think that many of these men and women were going to be leading American soldiers in combat, and that some may be killed in combat themselves, was an amazing realization that to this day makes me think about our armed force's sacrifices in a different light.
