Concerned Graduates of West Point and the Long Gray Line.
12/22/22
LTG Steve Gillard
606 Thayer Road
Superintendent, USMA
West Point, New York 10966
Dear General Gilland,
We have read your letter and shared our disappointment over the redesignation project with fellow graduates of the Academy. It is our considered opinion your project to remove or rename Academy memorials, buildings, and streets are ill-advised, if not unlawful. The memorials you plan to remove honor American heroes from our National Heritage. They are part of the rich History of our country, a national treasure belonging to the American people.
LTG Steven Gilland
The memorials you propose to eliminate are hallowed. They have been sanctified by the blood of American heroes. They reflect the exceptional accomplishments of Academy graduates, who gave their lives in the service of their people, God, and country. These memorials are the proud possession of the people of our sovereign nation.
The monuments you would eliminate were paid for by the American people in honor of heroes from a storied past. Today they are the proud possession of the American people, who have not authorized Congress, the Department of Defense, or the Academy to alter the National Heritage by removing, defacing, or otherwise desecrating the memorials in question. You might as well alter the Flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, or sacred Scripture as our hallowed national memorials.
Changing, altering, or otherwise deconstructing history is a decision that belongs to the people of our country. To destroy the past is not permissible. The past is finished, unalterable, and complete. No changes to the historical record are possible without the consent of the American citizenry. To unilaterally alter the past without the authority of the people is an illegitimate and unlawful act characteristic of totalitarian dictatorships, not constitutional republics. The proposed changes would constitute a fraudulent record as destructive to the national heritage as the false Critical Race Theory (CRT).
We understand you are carrying out the orders of your superiors. The obligation to carry out the orders of your superiors in no way absolves you of the responsibility to oppose illegal orders. The unauthorized alteration or destruction of memorials, monuments, places, and street names constitutes an unlawful attack on American Heritage. The orders instructing you to deconstruct American history are illegal until such actions have been authorized by the sovereign people. Unilateral action without the permission of the sovereign people oversteps the bounds of your authority and desecrates the sacred heritage of this great nation and West Point, thereby substituting tyranny for liberty in the conduct of the administration of domestic policy.
At some point, the senior Generals and Admirals must stand up, stand tall, and oppose the WOKE go-along, get-along culture of the Biden administration. By not standing tall, you will have cast yourself into infamy.
We respectfully call for the proposed alterations to the national heritage and history to be approved by the American citizenry before any actions are carried out on your part or those subject to your authority.
Signed:
/signed/
Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, USAF (Ret) Class of 1959
/signed/
Major General Paul Vallely, US Army (Ret) Class of 1961
/signed/
Colonel Andrew P. O’Meara, US Army (Ret) Class Of 1959
cc: The Association of Graduates, US Military Academy
/signed/
John Hughes, Class of 1996
Contact: suaus1961@gmail.com; (c) 406 890 4201
This open letter was originally posted at Stand Up America US