At West Point graduation, Biden praises the parents
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Vice President Joseph R. Biden told U.S. Military Academy graduates Saturday “it’s your time to write history” and thanked their parents for “teaching them to put something before self” — a message that parallels the story of Alexandra Baker, a graduating company commander from Hartsdale whose West Point dream began to emerge when her father took her to parades as a child.
Biden, addressing the 218th West Point graduation, praised the parents for “molding such patriots” and instilling in them values that are “the essence of who we are” as Americans.
Baker knows something of the importance of influences.
She knew she wanted to go to West Point when she was an high school sophomore in New Rochelle. But in some ways, she said, it all goes back to a childhood tableau: father and daughter watching local parades that included a tribute to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish-Lithuanian who fought as a colonel for the American Colonies in the Revolutionary War. He played a role in designing part of what became West Point.
"He's the reason I got in, pushing me to finish my application and just pushing me to do better," Baker said of her father.
Baker’s father died on New Year’s Eve.
A West Point tradition holds that each graduate seeks out a place where someone bestows his or her new rank — his or her bars. For the pinning, as it's known, Baker planned to have it at the academy's monument to Kosciuszko, who commanded the attention of a little girl at those parades with her father. Now, she’s an Army second lieutenant.
Some 953 cadets were expected to receive diplomas Saturday.
In his speech, Biden used solemnity, exhortation and humor, his voice booming at times and at others more that of a plaintive storyteller.
The vice president, giving his second West Point Address — the first was in 2012 — spoke of the academy as a bond that stays with those who attend it.
“You’ll be able to tell by the way they grip your hand,” Biden said, and “by the way they look you in the eye.”
Biden spoke of a complex world, where those in the military will confront challenges in the cyber-world along with the physical world.
When he and President Obama receive a briefing in the situation room from a commander in the field, Biden said, it needs to be a political analysis of the circumstances of a region. The role is more multifaceted now.
Whether it’s fighting terrorism, training the U.S.’s partners, dealing with an outbreak of disease or providing humanitarians relief, “we call you,” Biden said. “And right now, the stakes could not be higher.”
The Michie Stadium stands began to fill shortly after 7:30 a.m. for a ceremony that started at about 10 a.m. The stadium was rich with reminders of the Army-Navy football rivalry: “Beat Navy” and “Beat Air Force” loomed over a section of bleachers. Two lines of graduating cadets in their gray, white and gold uniforms made finding their seats look like a precision event.
When it was over, the only thing left was for the graduates to throw their hats. The sky filled with them. Children in the crowd scrambled, picking up whatever hats they could find and trying them on.