Well, it seems that Trump shows yet again how little he cares for our military. When COVID19 broke out, the military academies all sent their students home to finish out the year via remote schooling. The US Naval Academy has decided that calling all it's graduates back would be dangerous to the cadets, and so they are doing a virtual ceremony.
West Point graduates aren't so lucky. They were at home, but now will have to come back for graduation to hear Trump give a speech. Not only will they have to return under dangerous conditions (travel is risky right now), but they will also have to be quarantined before the graduation, and then, travel back under dangerous conditions home, just because Trump needs his ego stroked.
Does anyone else think that this is unnecessarily putting our military graduates at risk? I do. I mean, even the US Naval Academy says that bringing the cadets back for graduation is a bad idea, which is why they are doing it virtually.
Still think Trump cares about the military? I don't.
www.nytimes.com
WASHINGTON — For President Trump, who adores the pomp and precision of military ceremonies, this was the year he would finally get one of the special perks of being president — delivering the commencement address at West Point, the only service academy where he has not spoken.
But the graduation was postponed because of the coronavirus, the cadets were sent home and officials at the school were not sure when it would be held or even whether it was a good idea to hold it.
The Naval Academy, for its part, decided it was too risky to recall its nearly 1,000 graduating midshipmen to Annapolis, Md., for a commencement. Those graduates will have a virtual event. But the Air Force Academy, in contrast to the other schools, sent home its underclassmen, locked down its seniors on campus, moved up graduation, mandated social distancing — and went ahead with plans for Vice President Mike Pence to be its speaker.
And so last Friday, the day before Mr. Pence was to speak at the Air Force ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump, never one to be upstaged, abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be speaking at West Point.
That was news to everyone, including officials at West Point, according to three people involved with or briefed on the event. The academy had been looking at the option of a delayed presidential commencement in June, but had yet to complete any plans. With Mr. Trump’s pre-emptive statement, they are now summoning 1,000 cadets scattered across the country to return to campus in New York, the state that is the center of the outbreak.
West Point graduates aren't so lucky. They were at home, but now will have to come back for graduation to hear Trump give a speech. Not only will they have to return under dangerous conditions (travel is risky right now), but they will also have to be quarantined before the graduation, and then, travel back under dangerous conditions home, just because Trump needs his ego stroked.
Does anyone else think that this is unnecessarily putting our military graduates at risk? I do. I mean, even the US Naval Academy says that bringing the cadets back for graduation is a bad idea, which is why they are doing it virtually.
Still think Trump cares about the military? I don't.
Trump Speech to Bring 1,000 West Point Cadets Back to Campus (Published 2020)
The president’s off-again, on-again speech in June will bring back cadets who had scattered across the country to help counter the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON — For President Trump, who adores the pomp and precision of military ceremonies, this was the year he would finally get one of the special perks of being president — delivering the commencement address at West Point, the only service academy where he has not spoken.
But the graduation was postponed because of the coronavirus, the cadets were sent home and officials at the school were not sure when it would be held or even whether it was a good idea to hold it.
The Naval Academy, for its part, decided it was too risky to recall its nearly 1,000 graduating midshipmen to Annapolis, Md., for a commencement. Those graduates will have a virtual event. But the Air Force Academy, in contrast to the other schools, sent home its underclassmen, locked down its seniors on campus, moved up graduation, mandated social distancing — and went ahead with plans for Vice President Mike Pence to be its speaker.
And so last Friday, the day before Mr. Pence was to speak at the Air Force ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump, never one to be upstaged, abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be speaking at West Point.
That was news to everyone, including officials at West Point, according to three people involved with or briefed on the event. The academy had been looking at the option of a delayed presidential commencement in June, but had yet to complete any plans. With Mr. Trump’s pre-emptive statement, they are now summoning 1,000 cadets scattered across the country to return to campus in New York, the state that is the center of the outbreak.
