September 4th - Today we drove from Cape
Cod, MA to Highland Falls, NY, home of the U.S. Military Academy - West Point.
It was a rainy day, but not a problem traveling and we arrived in Highland Falls
at about 3pm. (Motels and gas are expensive up here.)
September 5th - We were up early, as
usual, had breakfast at McDonalds and were at the Academy in time for the first
tour of the day. The only way tourists can get onto the grounds is by bus tour;
they no longer permit visitors to wander around the campus on their own. You
need a picture I.D. to purchase a ticket for the tour and there were regular
army guards in the visitors center outside the main gate and as we boarded our
bus. Our delightful guide was from Sweden and spoke with some accent, but was
not difficult to understand. We considered the tour one of the best we have been
on. The main Gate
Bob poses with a security guard. The Our first stop was at the beautiful Cadet Chapel;
constructed of native granite quarried at West Point. Construction began in 1908
and was completed in 1910. There are many lovely stained glass windows in the
chapel: a memorial to Academy graduates who served in WW I, and gifts of various
graduating classes, the last one from the Class of 1976 during the Bicentennial
Year.
The original chapel organ was installed in 1911
and has grown from 2,406 pipes to become the largest church organ in the world -
more than 21,000 pipes. These horizontal pipes are over the doorway just inside
The organ keyboard looks like the cockpit of a 747.
This row remains forever empty except for the candle;
Across the parade ground stands the impressive
granite barracks. Each morning, the cadets emerge to stand a 10 minute formation
before going to a 20 minute breakfast break. They attend classes until the 20
minute noon lunch break. At 3pm they go to PE until dinner at 6:30pm and from
7:30pm to 11:30pm curfew, they study; lights out at midnight.
There are many imposing statues around the parade
ground of well known men such as George Washington, Douglas MacArthur and George
Patton. Our guide told us that it took Patton 5 years instead of 4 to graduate.
When asked about it he replied that it was because he could never find the
library (it was later discovered he was dyslexic). His statue now stands facing
the library, holding binoculars.
Perhaps the most prominent and majestic monument at the Academy is the Battle Monument. It was dedicated in 1897 "in memory of the officers and men of the American Army who fell in battle," specifically the Regular Army casualties of the North during the Civil War.
Battle Monument was designed by an architectural engineering firm that included Stanford White, one of the nation's foremost architectural designers of the late 19th century. The shaft is reportedly the largest polished granite shaft in the Western Hemisphere. Some 2,230 names are inscribed on it. The figure at the top, "Lady Fame" or "Victory," was sculpted by Frederick MacMonnies, who also did the Nathan Hale statue in City Hall Park in New York City.
The football stadium. The spirit of West Point is quite evident on football weekends when the Corps of Cadets, known to the football eleven as "The Twelfth Man", stands throughout the entire game until the clock runs out.
We left West Point before noon and enjoyed a pleasant 3-hour drive back to Linwood, NJ to visit again for a few days with friends and family before heading south and home. Once more we are guests of our friends Dot and Remo.
Continue to New Jersey & South
Martha's 2003 Journal
soldier is regular army, not a cadet.
the main entrance and mimic the sound of trumpets. 
a permanent reminder of fallen comrades.
The West Point Museum. Here are collections that represent all major categories of military study from arms, cannon and artillery to uniforms, military art and objects reflecting West Point’s history. Originally opened in 1854, the West Point Museum is the oldest and largest military museum in the country.
The view across the Hudson is stunning and you can see for miles. During the American Revolutionary War, West Point fortifications included a great chain and log boom
floating at a sharp 90-degree turn in the river: no British warship ever passed through. Thirteen links of the chain
(one for each of the original 13 colonies) now form a memorial.
