What Abides

What abides over the sixty years since President John F. Kennedy spoke at my graduation from West Point. This is where What Abides begins. Days spent at West Point stand clearly in my mind. I can envision my daily life as a cadet: a bed made taut as a trampoline, spit-shined shoes, and a sworn oath to absolute honesty. No lying, no cheating, no stealing, no locks, no keys.

We woke in the early morning to bugles and drums. Another day in which to excel. Heavy academics and tough physical training ensued. We might be ordered to climb a flimsy ladder to the gymnasium rafters. We would leap into the swimming pool, all part of the survival swimming class. Academic classes, physical training, year-round competitive sports, sometimes an afternoon parade. Evenings we study. But West Point is more than this.

One day in June, President Eisenhower visited the barracks. I, on duty, greeted him and, improbably, we shared a joke together. Wintertime at West Point is dubbed Gloom Period. So the marching band played pop tunes and jazz in the mess hall to cheer us. Cadets also marked the world outside West Point. We traveled to an army base in Alabama. Our one Black classmate in the total class of six hundred met the real-world shock of Jim Crow racism. When we paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York City for the last time, we couldn't know that ninety cadets marching would die in Vietnam. What Abides is about a brotherhood, forged in rigorous training, devoted to living honorable lives.

Our parade in New York brought memories of applauding crowds, the grand backdrops of Central Park and Fifth Avenue. My looking out over New York harbor brought thoughts of why and how I attended West Point. Born during World War II, the triumphant victory subsumed the nation during my youth. The entry process was intensely competitive. The official catalogue warned that admission requirements were "somewhat" different from other colleges. Indeed they were.

Oh that first day at West Point! With shocking suddenness military discipline was imposed by upperclassmen. We left our homes as our parents' children. By late afternoon, shorn of hair, we were marching in cadence and had sworn an oath of cadetship.

In name West Point cadets, there remained much to learn. We were taught to make our beds, shine our shoes and march, all the West Point way. We ate sitting at attention. We memorized vast quantities of material from the obtuse definition of the word "discipline" to the mess hall's daily meal menu. Indeed it was all somewhat different.

What Abides unearths other aspects of West Point. Why the ignoring of Baron von Steuben in the founding of the real Colonial Army and military academies? The very model of a soldier/adviser, he seems curiously marginalized at West Point. Then there is Robert Strange McNamara. Not a West Point graduate but actually its nemesis. He considered his mentor, Curtis "Bombs Away" LeMay, as one of the best military commander...