WEST POINT, N.Y. — Cadets graduating from West Point were praised by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday for having the courage and patriotism to join the military in “a dangerous new century.”
Gates noted that the 970 members of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2009 were preparing their West Point applications in late 2004, even as American forces were battling fiercely in Fallujah in Iraq.
“You made your decision to serve knowing . . . this war would be bloody and difficult, of indefinite length and uncertain outcome,” Gates told cadets. “In doing so, you showed courage, commitment and patriotism of the highest order.”
Almost all the graduates become second lieutenants in the U.S. Army. Most are expected to serve eventually in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Class of 2009 includes 17 cadets from other countries, including the academy’s first cadet from Afghanistan, who will attend graduate school in the U.S.
