Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point (Vintage)

In 2000, I attended a football game @ West Point. In addition to finding the campus awe-inspiring, I was impressed with the camradre of the cadets we conversed with as well as their demeanor. This book does a fantastic job of detailing the West Point experience. Examples of significant items covered include: West Point's evolving role in the new Army and the politics involved, drugs and alcohol usage, female enrollment and issues, and Plebe hazing. What this book does spectacularly well is track cadets for the 4 year period through West Point to their initial assignments in the military. It reads like a soap opera. Top flight leadership candidates are tripped dating fellow cadets. Top graduates struggle with balancing girlfriends and family and lose their competitive edge in their first assignments after West Point and take lower profile assignments. While there are many cadets tracked throughout the book, my two favorite stories were George Rast, the candidate just trying to get by who they attempted to run out of West Point all four years, and Huck Finn, the football player from Lousiana who has a major transformation in personal growth. The in-depth analysis of the various commanders is also very touching as we get to see one leader "take the fall" to maintain his personal principals when it wasn't necessary. The fact that this book overlaps the 9/11/01 incident only heightens the experience of being a voyeur of the Academy. This book will make you proud to be an American watching these kids grow into exceptional young men and women with varying degrees of belief in a career as an Army officer. Some of these stories reduced me to tears and I believe you will find them as touching. BUY THIS BOOK. ADDENDUM: In 2000 I attended an Army football game. Here is the Internet Article I wrote that provoked my reading of this book. DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY Memphis at Army Why is a trip to West Point considered the epitome of the college football experience as voted by Sporting News, Sports Illustrated and others? Set on the Hudson River at a particularly high and beautiful spot, the campus may be the most beautiful in America. The rolling hills, littered with rocks and trees set high over the Hudson were a great starting point to build the very old, but perfectly preserved stone buildings on this campus originally formed in 1802. But the perfect college campus is much more than a physical layout. The mystic and school spirit permeate the campus like a hidden ghost. And no campus in America has this more than West Point. Not Notre Dame. Not Harvard, Yale or Princeton. And certainly not any state school. Football Saturday starts with the 10:00 parade on the Plains surrounded by the stone buildings to the West and the Hudson River to the North and East. There is no better place than here to come in contact with the spirit of the United States of America and the commitment made by so many to preserve it's heritage. You find yourself wanting to thank these eighteen year-old cadets for the commitment they are making to preserve American freedom and values. The parade is built around the marching band, not "state school" sized, but big enough to perfectly capture the music of the country. After the band's march to playing position, regiments of cadets magically emerge from openings in the architecturally gifted campus buildings. Dressed in their gray multi-buttoned dress shirts, white pants and black top hats with plume, they strike an opposing contrast to the stone buildings. Surprisingly, Navy and Air Force cadets participate on a selected basis in an exchange program and march intermingled with the cadets forming a united front as the band plays the anthem from all four armed services. Following these rousing renditions, the band breaks into the Tiger fight song on this day for the benefit of their esteemed guests. In perfect unison with swords or guns drawn the regiments pass the grandstand. Civilians are instructed in proper etiquette as the parade builds to the playing of the national anthem and presenting of the colors. Maybe if you see this enough, the pride and patriotism become mundane and your eyes don't water and the lump leaves your throat. But maybe, if your lucky, it doesn't and you stand there thankful that you were able to experience this and more fully understand what makes this country great. And maybe now you understand the commitment these outstanding young men and women have undertaken to follow in the footsteps of Dwight Eisenhower, Norman Schwarzkof and Douglas MacArthur, not to mention Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. As the parade ends, tailgating resumes on this 16,000-acre campus. No one is concerned with what other teams are doing on this day as you occasionally catch a mother visiting her cadet son or two West Point alumnus from the 1960's catching up on where their travels have taken them in the last 30 years. But in three hours you're in for another treat as 40,000 people cram into the stadium constructed in 1925 next to Lusk Reservoir and surrounded by hills. Almost all of the 4,000 cadets are in required attendance as they march in together followed by their pep band, three mules and "golf cart" cannon. The school spirit is incredible and it's difficult to focus on the game while enjoying the antics of the young cadets who just an hour earlier would have gone out of their way to answer questions and point out sites of interest while making sure to punctuate each sentence with multiple "sirs" in a sign of respect. And with this atmosphere as a background, you struggle to root against this quality opponent who is there to actively engage in competitive sportsmanship to prove their manhood and nothing more. There will be no vulgarity or arguments about strategy and coaching acumen. Just the friendly, but fierce battle. Just as it was meant to be by our forefathers who started the game in the late 1800's. And how do you end a perfect trip to West Point? By driving away and watching the remaining West Point tailgaters wave with a smile on their face as they await the next day they will line up for another fierce, but friendly battle. Oh, Memphis won. But that's not important.

For starters, although I am very proud of our military who protect and defend us and all we stand for as a country, I am not a military person. By that I mean, I was never a member of the military nor did I know much of anything about it. For these reasons, I myself am surprised I chose this book for recreational reading. Now, I am glad I did for I wasn't disappointed. This book, as my title suggests, provides the reader with an inside look on what it is like to enter West Point Military Academy. In particular, it follows one group of young men and a few young women who enter at the same time and undergo four years of discipline, intense training in conduct, personal appearance, education , military training, physical fitness and more. It covers the reasons these young men and women chose to enter, their mixed (in some cases) feelings, the self doubt, and their transformation into a cohesive unit that is self disciplined and will always have each others backs! As in pretty much any group, there are a few who don't make the cut and decide or are forced to withdraw. There is also one young man in particular with the unusual name of George Rash who just doesn't fit in well with the group. He ends up failing the physical fitness test multiple times, and seems to be content to do the very minimum for a while but even when offered the option to withdraw without having to reimburse the academy for the cost of training him, George is determined to stay til the end. I liked that despite him not fitting in, his fellow classmates were cordial to him and a few even encouraged him. The only drawbacks I found were a few spelling and grammar errors and for me personally I had a hard time following the timeline. For example, a few graduations were covered, and when the original group were there but then the book went on discussing them in the Academy, I was confused initially as to who graduated. Perhaps it was just me but the confusion with time happened a few times. Other than that, it is a strong book that will capture ones attention even if you are NOT a military member!

I didn't know I knew nothing about either the military or about the training of officers at West Point. Now, because of David Lipsky about both. A worthwhile read and a worthwhile subject.

I nearly passed on this book because from the cover I got the impression that it was one person's account of their West Point experience, which was not what I was seeking. Instead, it is a well-written account authored by a professional journalist of the West Point experience. David Lipsky, a Rolling Stone writer, immersed himself at West Point for four years and had open access to the Academy. He produced a book that follows a few cadets throughout their journey at the Academy and into the beginning of their officer careers, and in doing so also was able to document the culture and lifestyle of West Point cadets at that time. It is a very interesting book that covers a time of change at the Academy, notably including the cadets' reaction to how September 11, 2001 will affect them. Everyday events are covered, as well as big events such as The Beast (new cadet's initial summer training) and graduation. I am glad I read the book, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the unique aspect of American life the military academies offer.

Narración sobre una generación de estudiantes durante sus 5 años en West Point, la academia militar americana. Muy interesante por entender el funcionamiento y la cultura.

Good read

Exactly as promised - a read book, but in brilliant condition and quickly delivered.