Following the U.S. Military Academy Class of 2021 Graduation Ceremony Saturday, friends and family convened at the Boylan household at West Point to continue the right of passage into officership for USMA Class of 2021 Cadet Tully Boylan as he readied himself to don the bars of a second lieutenant on the shoulders of his uniform as family members have done before him.
“This is going to seem weird at first, but you just have to bear with me,” Colonel Gregory Boylan, the executive officer to the Superintendent, said to the family and friends who sat before him as he readied his speech. “All right, everybody, close your eyes. I’m going to talk and I’ll tell you when to open them,” Gregory asked. Everyone closed their eyes with curious smiles on their faces. Then, Gregory began.
“West Point played a crucial role in keeping the new United States from falling to the British. For the area became known for its famed military academy. West Point is located on a plateau, on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately 60 miles north of New York City,” Gregory said. “It is 1781. George Washington has called the fortified site quote ‘the most important post in America,’ and he worked to keep patriot control of West Point throughout the Revolutionary War.” Full story.