“[The words duty, honor, country] 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.”

General Douglas MacArthur, address to the Corps of Cadets on receiving the Thayer Award, 1962

Prelude: On my need for a day of healing and revitalization.

A few Fridays ago, I met with a hotel catering manager regarding the menu and other details for the then, upcoming 40^th reunion of the West Point Class of 1982. That meeting ended a week of legal briefs, family struggles, and great national angst. The January 6^th “hearings” continued. Battles about about whether abortion is “health care” or an abomination raged. Another bloody week in Chicago claimed dozens of lives. My sister, a minister, “unfriended” me on social media, purportedly for proclaiming my belief that Jesus would have opposed abortion. (My real crime, in her view? Being “articulate while conservative”, a mortal sin with dangerous ramifications for the globalist agenda. Silencing your voice is self-preservation for wokesters, who otherwise would have to explain their beliefs that men can get pregnant or that biological women can fairly compete with “women-who-were-formerly-men”). But I digress. The point is, I have been in an upset and angry mood as I have watched good people being slandered, common sense being attacked by charlatans, and our nation’s treasure being frittered away on radical causes and evil doctrines. The world seems fiiled with illusions, delusions, and Big Tech censorship. I needed a recharge. I needed healing. I needed affirmation. And I found it. Maybe you also need these things, and maybe my experience can be of service to you.

A Journey to Hallowed Ground

Saturday, I started by working out at the hotel, freshening up, and making the 45 minute drive to West Point, New York. As I drove up the Palisades Parkway, taking 9W and the roundabout to Route 6, then drove through the newly blacktopped road through Highland Falls, past Schade’s and the Thayer Hotel, I felt a deep sense of connection and peace. The stocky gate guard dressed in black sized me up, saw my retired Army cap, scrutinized my ID card, and waved me through, saying “Welcome back, Sir.” I drove past Buffalo Soldiers’ Field, up Mills Road, went under the Class of 1956 bridge at Michie Stadium, and turned left onto Stony Lonesome for a quick stop at the Post Exchange. There, I saw a few cadets—dressed in BDUs (Battle Dress Uniforms). I surmised they were part of the cadre teaching the New Cadets. They looked fit, sharp, and very, very young. I bought some sundries, a gift for my wife, some West Point memorabilia, and then began my mission for the day: visiting the most special places, for me, at a very, very special place, to seek healing, solace, and affirmation. My destinations: the Cadet Chapel, first and last), the Old Cadet Chapel, The Cemetery, and the Catholic Chapel. Each has a special place in my heart, and the hearts of many cadets, former cadets, graduates, friends, and staff. I wanted to visit them—but more, I needed to visit them. These past two years have been very wearing, destructive to my family relationships and my nation. This was was time to seek answers; to seek courage, faith, and hope, in a very special place.

The Cadet Chapel–FAITH

The Cadet Chapel is a giant stone cathedral that overlooks the barracks from a high point on the hill. Each Sunday, cadets ascend about 200 feet to worship together. As a Cadet, I have sung on that old stone altar with the choir. I have heard the magnificent organ (the 2^nd largest in the western Hemisphere, we learned) thundering out its mighty hymns as Doc Davis worked his magic. I have heard magnificent sermons from Chaplain Richard Camp, (a dear friend who recently passed away). I have attended many fellowships in the basement, and on one amazing, ethereal night, I and a dozen other cadets sang and prayed on the roof and felt the presence of God. It was magical. So I parked my rental and entered this unique place of worship.

The Cadet Chapel inspires quiet awe. It is beautiful in the old sense—think Rennaissance masters, not Van Gogh. At the South End, three gorgeous stained glass windows over the altar represent “Duty, Honor, and Country”. I slowly walked up the side aisle, turned into the center, advanced to the altar, and knelt and prayed the Cadet Prayer. As I did, I felt an wonderful feeling of courage, faith, and reassurance rush through me. And two parts of the Cadet Prayer truly resonated with me as I prayed: “Help us to draw nearer to Thee in Spirit and in Truth” was the first. The other was “Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts in sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer”. My revelation was that whatever turmoil was there, God is always there, if we seek Him, and that we are called to be joyful ourselves, and seek others who are, even in the darkest times. And this is the message of FAITH. Things will work out, if we join together as brothers and sisters under God and strive to be an irresistible force for good in what can be an evil world. I concluded the prayer with “Amen”, rose, and drove to my next destination; the Old Cadet Chapel.

The Old Cadet Chapel and the Cemetery-COURAGE

I drove down Stony Lonesome road towards the Old Post Exchange. I passed the area containing the First Class Club, the imposing red brick of Eisenhower Hall, and drove through the entrance to the Cemetery, and parked at the circle in front of the Old Cadet Chapel, In contrast to the immense stone edifice of the immense modern Cadet Chapel, the Old Cadet Chapel is much smaller and rather plain, with the exception of all the plaques and ornaments commemorating great generals in earlier battles. At the top of the Choir loft, on the right hand side, is a plaque for General Benedict Arnold. It contains his date of birth, but no date of death. This Chapel is similar to a New England Puritan chapel, with wooden benches and clean, straight lines. This Chapel was also a very special place during my abbreviated time at West Point, The connection is similar but different. This connection is to the great leaders of the distant past, who had greatness thrust upon them in earlier times and earlier days. Some celebrated here once fought for the Confederacy. Some owned slaves. But they had this in common: they did their duty as they saw it, and they had a fiery and deep devotion to God. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They forged the FOUNDATION of our freedom. By the standards of their time, they were heroes and honorable men. I knelt at the altar, again, alone in this special place, and again I prayed the Cadet Prayer.

Again I felt a deep feeling of peace, and this time the part of the prayer that resonated most was the ending: “Help us to maintain the Honor of the Corps, untarnished and unsullied, and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country”. And I thought of General Ulysesses Grant, and his humanitarian gestures as he ended the Civil War Because he saw his duty as ending a bloody war, valiantly fought, with steps that would unify the country, Those that fought for the Union maintained the honor of the Corps, and did their duty. And as I walked out into the sunshine and visited the graves of the great leaders and heroes of the past, I thought of their courage in dark times, and how it bore them through to better times. And how so many gave all, that we might live. So many great leaders-Norman Schwartzkopf, George Goethals (who gave the world the Panama Canal); Sylvanus Thayer, the father of West Point; Margaret Corbin, the Revolutionary War heroine who took her husband’s place at the cannon; Susan and Anna Warner, who wrote “Jesus Loves Me”; and the soaring and ornate grave of General Daniel Butterfield, the Medal of Honor winner who gave us “Taps”. I visited the cadet monument for those who died as cadets. I slowly walked through row after row of graves of heroes with diverse names—Irish, Jewish, English, Hispanic, Italian, French—all united as testaments to greatness, and to the reality that our time is fleeting, and that we must use it well. Our country (and the world) has been saved, time and again, through their courage. And it occurred to me that all of us need courage now, to speak up in a time of censorship, to question science misused to oppress and consolidate power, and to fight for righteous causes against powerful, immoral, and ruthless forces bent on destroying all we hold dear.

The Catholic Chapel–HOPE

I drove back up Stony Lonesome Road, turned right and wound my way around the back of Professor’s Row, and arrived at the parking lot for the Catholic Chapel. I entered the side door from the parking lot. As I turned right and gazed at the Narthex, I marveled. This chapel is truly beautiful. A Vietnamese lady in the front finished lighting candles. A family of four exited. Again I was alone, or as alone as you can ever be in a sacred place at West Point. And I gazed in wonder at the astonishing beauty of this sacred place; the gilded vessels, the crucifix, the statues of the saints, and the stories of the windows. This chapel lifts up the eye to the suspended art over the altar. After a few moments of appreciation, again I approached the altar to pray, for the Third time, the Cadet Prayer. And, again, a new part of the prayer resonated: “Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy; that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won” Now, while this seems forthright and vital, it also sows the seeds of hope: IF we are steadfast, and IF we have firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, we CAN prevail against the darkness. Truth can conquer falsehood. That which is noble and worthy—the vision of Martin Luther King, the determination and humanity of U.S. Grant, the brilliance and determination of Norman Schwartzkpf: that is our legacy. We must have hope above all, and carry it through faithfully and courageously. The present may appear bleak. Inflation soars, opioids kill legions. False prophets assail the prosperity of the underprivileged with lies and deceit. But after a struggle, there will be an ultimate victory of righteousness, as our country turns back to its roots in a new and better way. As I walked out of the chapel, I felt an immense upswelling of hope.

Return to the Cadet Chapel After a contemplative detour to walk Trophy Point, visit the links of the Great Chain, and look out at the Hudson River, I drove back up the hill for a final visit to the Cadet Chapel. This time, though, as a tour bus was dropping its visitors, I simply sat in the parking lot and thought about the magical day and its lessons. They are all there in the Cadet Prayer. Postlude Reproduced below is the Cadet Prayer, written by Chaplain Clayton Wheat in 1924. May it bless you and charge your spirit with faith, courage, and hope, and whatever else you need at this point in your own life. Cadet Prayer (Clayton Wheat, 1924) O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of Human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural. Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverance in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer. Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all.