Raymond Jamal Maples, a product of West Philadelphia, has something in common with U.S. presidents and the nation's most honored war generals: As of Dec. 19, he became a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The journey gave Maples, 23, yet another distinction: He's one of the few African-Americans from Philadelphia to have graduated from the prestigious university in West Point, N.Y. "It's a pretty big accomplishment and I feel grateful that I'm the one that had the privilege to do it, coming from the area that I'm from," Maples said yesterday. Read More