RONALD REAGAN AT WEST POINT

Oct. 28, 1987:

…”It was back in the thirties that I joined the Army Reserves as a member of the 14th Regiment of the — get ready now — horse cavalry. [Laughter] It’s not true that I was at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. [Laughter]

In 1778 George Washington erected a fort high upon a granite point overlooking the Hudson to guard the region of New York in the event of a British attack. And now, for more than 180 years, the United States Military Academy, here at West Point, has in effect extended and carried on that first mission. For here we train the men and women whose duty it is to defend the Republic, the men and women whose profession is watchfulness, whose skill is vigilance, whose calling is to guard the peace, but if need be, to fight and win.

More than 180 years, West Point in this time has established and added luster to a proud story, a story of courage and wisdom, a story of heroism, of sacrifice, and yes, very often the ultimate sacrifice. It is the story of men like Ulysses Grant, the son of a humble tanner in Ohio who went on from West Point to save the American Union. It’s the story of Dwight David Eisenhower, a Kansas farm boy who learned the skills at West Point that enabled him to command the mightiest invasion force in history, and of Douglas MacArthur, an acknowledged genius in war who showed himself during the occupation of Japan to be a genius in peace, as well. And if I may, it’s the story of men like General Fred Gorden. The only black cadet in his class, today General Gorden has come back to West Point as Commandant, setting an example for you, and indeed for all young Americans, of what hard work and devotion to duty can achieve.

These last two names I mentioned, General Gorden and General MacArthur, call to mind a special moment in the history of this Academy. For it was 25 years ago that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur stood in this spot and addressed the cadets of West Point. And General Gorden, at the time cadet Gorden, was sitting where you are today. It was a moment cadet Gorden would never forget. Just days from graduation, he looked around this mess hall and saw war-hardened officers moved to tears by the power of MacArthur’s words:

“The long gray line has never failed us.” He said, “Were you to do so, a million ghosts would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: Duty, honor, country.” And then he added: “This does not mean that you’re warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”

General Palmer, ladies and gentlemen of West Point, it is because you, above all other people, pray for peace, but must bear the burden should that peace fail, that I’ve come here today. For I want to speak about relations between the American Republic and democracy’s main competitor, the Soviet Union — relations that are likely to shape the whole course of your careers as professional soldiers. I want in particular to discuss our present efforts for arms reduction, efforts that may soon be yielding historic results.

But first, some essential background — from the beginning, our administration has insisted that this country base its relations with the Soviet Union upon realism, not illusion. Now, this may sound obvious, but when we took office, the historical record needed restatement. So, restate it we did. We told the truth about the massive Soviet buildup. We told the truth about Afghanistan and Poland. We told the truth about economic growth and standards of living — that it is not the democracies that have backward economies, that it is not the Western World in which life expectancy is actually on the decline. We told the truth about the moral distinction between their system and ours.

When our administration took office, we found America’s military forces in a state of disrepair. Today the situation is very different. Pay and training for our Armed Forces are up. The Navy has been expanded. Weapons systems of all kinds have been modernized, making full use of the technological revolution. As a result of our efforts, you in the Army will see the fielding of more than 400 new systems. And we’ve begun work upon a dramatic, new departure, both in military strategy and technology; our Strategic Defense Initiative, which offers the hope of rendering ballistic missiles obsolete and of ensuring deterrence by protecting lives, not threatening them. In brief: We have replaced weakness with strength. …

As Commander in Chief these 7 years, I have been struck again and again by the professionalism of our military officers and by the dedication of the soldiers that I have met in the field. But one who impressed me most deeply is a member of the United States Army I never met. His name was Sean Luketina. He was 23 years old. He didn’t have the privilege of attending this Academy. He was a sergeant, a soldier like those you will command.

In this month of October, 4 years ago, Sean Luketina fought in the invasion of Grenada. He was wounded, badly wounded. He was evacuated to a hospital in Puerto Rico, where his father, a retired Army officer, joined him. He slipped in and out of a coma. And during a moment when he was conscious, his father asked him, “Sean, was it worth it?” “Yes, Dad,” he answered. And then his father asked, “Son, would you do it again?” Sergeant Luketina looked into his father’s eyes and said simply, “Hell yes, Dad: Duty, honor, country.”

Sean Luketina died for the cause that the Army of this Republic has always served, from the hunger and bloody snow of Valley Forge to the heavy demands of vigilance upon the borders of Germany and Korea. It is the cause of life as God meant life to be lived. It’s the cause of human freedom. And so, the proud words sound again today as they did 25 years ago and as they will at this Academy 25 years hence: Duty, honor, and country.

Permit me to say, as well, that I feel something today of what General MacArthur must have felt. Your youth, your optimism — they give me strength. And as I look out upon your young faces, I feel as one who will depart the stage almost before you’ve made your first entrance. I feel in my heart a great confidence in the future of our country, for I know that you will defend that future. And it’s true: The long gray line has never failed us.

Thank you, and God bless you all.“

There has been much made of the “Reagan is Dead vs. Long Live Reagan”-debate during this campaign season.

Yes, Ronnie is dead and he’s not coming back. And no, we should not be unduly nostalgic or sentimental. But there is much to learn from and emulate in Ronald Reagan.

His simple faith in God, his bedrock patriotism, his infectious optimism, his personal integrity. For example, in all his long years in office whether in California or Washington, there was never even a whisper of financial impropriety.

Compare that to the Clintons. In all their long years in office, there has never been ANYTHING BUT scandal, the Government-by-Grift to which Democrats evidently long to return.

Even now, for example, Hillary’s staff and fund-raisers are on trial, her brothers are still appearing before judges in connection with their role in the Great Pardon Sale, and Missee Crinton herself is taking big campaign “contributions” from unemployed Chinee winos and homeless Hong Kong hobos. As Frank J. noted, “The thing about donations from the Chinese is that no matter how much you get, you’ll want more an hour later.” I bribe you long time.

But the thing about Ronald Reagan that has really met the test of time and stands through to this very day is his principled leadership.

Reagan’s principles are timeless. Being timeless, they will still serve this nation well today, even if the specific policies that flow from those principles are somewhat different than they were in 1980.

Limited government, pro-growth economics, pro-life and traditional values, private property, a robust defense of America and the West–these are all as important now as they were then–perhaps even more so.

Key to it all was his leadership.

He led from his heart, backing Goldwater when there was no hope of overcoming the sympathy-vote that LBJ would receive from John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

He led from his principles all during the Wilderness Years of the 1970’s, when Nixon had resigned in disgrace, when Democrats had engineered our defeat at the hands of a third-rate, Third-World Communist country, when it seemed as if the Welfare State was the only kind of government possible and Democrats would rule it forever, when it seemed to many as if accommodation with the Soviet Slave-Power was just a sad but necessary fact of life.

Almost alone, Ronald Reagan stood athwart history, shouting “No!”

He boldly declared, to gasps of shock and horror from the intelligensia, that America was worth defending and that the Soviet Empire was already dead and just didn’t know it yet.

He spent years explaining his ideas to others and making the case for the essential rightness of those ideas. He took stands that weren’t always popular…and he made them popular. He brought others–he brought us–along with him into his vision.

In short, he led.

And principled leadership is exactly–EXACTLY– what we need today.

But why lead? Again, Reagan himself explained it best:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Yes, our Ronnie is dead…but Long Live Reagan.

Pass it on.