Tom Hanks is fragged by West Point -- as awards ceremony for his service to veterans is canceled
Who is behind this? Who do you think?
Tom Hanks helped lead the effort to create the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The actor, famous for his portrayal of an American G.I. in Saving Private Ryan, has been a huge advocate for veterans and veterans’ causes.
He supported the building of a memorial for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the fight against Hitler.
Hanks was the national chairman of a huge fundraising campaign to build the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
And for all this, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
And he was about to be honored at a West Point celebration and parade where he was to receive the Sylvanus Thayer award, which recognizes an “outstanding citizen” who exemplifies the academy’s ideals of duty, honor and country.
But that’s not going to happen now. The ceremony has been canceled.
In a tight-lipped announcement, Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, who serves as the head of the West Point Association of Graduates, explained that the decision “allows the academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army.”
Exactly how a parade would distract from that mission was not explained.
Which is odd since the Army apparently didn’t find it all that distracting to hold a big parade on Donald Trump’s birthday in the streets of the nation’s capital.
Could it be because Hanks made fun of Trump on Saturday Night Live?
Or because he campaigned for Joe Biden?
That would be petty, wouldn’t it? That certainly would not exemplify the values of the United States Army, would it?
And it certainly would be unfair to someone about whom Robert McDonald, the former secretary of veterans affairs and the alumni association’s chairman, said:
“Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans.”
Certainly more than a certain occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. Share this email with your friends. They will love you for it.
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