Our 40th Reunion of the West Point Class of 1978 is over and Cath and I are back home after a wonderful, wonderful time. I have struggled with trying to capture in my own mind the events and emotions of the weekend.

West Point is a beautiful place, and it was ideal this past weekend. It was fun to walk around the Post and see the sites – the massive gray buildings, The Plain, the statues of Patton, Eisenhower, and others, Trophy Point with the Hudson flowing below….

Among other activities, we went to the Cadet Chapel where our class held a heartfelt memorial service for our fifty departed classmates. We have done one of these at every reunion, but as we get older, the words from the song “The Corps” become more meaningful – “They are here in ghostly assemblage, The men of the Corps long dead….”

One of the most rewarding part of the weekend was linking up with old classmates and recapturing a bit of the past. Some, Cathy and I had not seen in 40 years, others not for 5 or 10 years, and some that I’ve only met online. The camaraderie, the love and the fellowship were overwhelming. We told stories of our time at West Point, but also stories about Germany, Italy, Korea, Panama, Granada, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Places where our careers had intersected or overlapped.

As we get older, the full meaning of being a part of The Long Gray Line becomes more evident. We truly are a part of a 200 year continuum that has stretched from 1802 to now, and into the future. We met some Firstie (Senior) cadets who will be 2nd Lieutenants in a few weeks. They will soon head to postings around the world. After meeting and talking with them, I am encouraged. These young men and women will do America proud as we go into an uncertain future.

At West Point we have vows, watchwords, and themes that have served as guideposts through the course of our lives….. Duty, Honor, Country…. Choosing the harder right, rather than the easier wrong….Never be content with a half truth, when the whole can be won….. and many more. After attending the reunion, I feel renewed and, as another classmate said, recharged. There is something about the gathering of this group that helps to remind us not only of who we were in our youth, but also who we have strived to be throughout our lives.

I observed my classmates over the course of the weekend, and there is no doubt that we are older, thicker, and grayer (or balding). And yet…there is something else there too. I reflect on West Point, see my classmates, and think of Tennysons’s words at the end of Ulysses…

” We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

I can’t wait for our next gathering.

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The title of this blog is a line from the song “The Corps”