Prior Service at R-Day

momoftwins
Tue, 27 Jun 2006 09:06:46 +0000

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/06/27/news-gbrday-06-27.html

June 27, 2006

Veteran soldiers lend expertise at USMA

By Greg Bruno
Times Herald-Record

gbruno@th-record.com

West Point - Tyler Gordy marched into Eisenhower Hall with the swagger of a seasoned veteran.

Clad in Army green, a Purple Heart ribbon pinned to his chest, the 22-year-old Iraqi war veteran looked more like an Army officer than a new cadet at the U.S. Military Academy.

But yesterday, he was just one of 1,320 new cadets reporting for duty on Registration Day at West Point.

“Whenever you’re a new guy, you have to start at the bottom,” Gordy of New Castle, Calif., said minutes before beginning his military academy career. “I want to sit back and be a sponge.”

Nearly five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, veteran soldiers are increasingly common among the ranks of West Point plebes.

This year, 29 veterans joined the Long Gray Line. Last year, there were 30.

West Point officials say there are a host of reasons for the uptick in prior-service cadets.

Some veterans come for the education. Others, having seen the worst in leaders during their own tours, want to lead their own soldiers differently.

For Gordy, it was a desire to serve his country as only a West Point graduate can.

“I had great leadership. I had West Point graduates,” he said of his 11 months fighting near Baghdad in 2003. “I can’t say enough about them.”

In many ways, it was their leadership that got Gordy home alive.

One day in September 2003, while on patrol near Mosul, he was injured by a grenade that sent shrapnel slicing through his left leg.

Gordy was fortunate. After the injury, he was largely limp-free. But a friend lost both legs.

He said it was his commanders’ steady leadership that helped him through the difficult time.

“I want to emulate them,” Gordy said.

West Point officials say they don’t actively recruit combat veterans, but they do encourage them.

“We’re always looking for good soldiers that are in the force,” Academy spokesman Lt. Col. Kent P. Cassella said. “It’s a huge difference. The cadets that don’t have any combat experience, they hunger for that knowledge.”

Mary Erdman is one of those hungry new cadets.

At 18, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., freshman admits she has no idea what she’s in for. She knows West Point is a good school, but she doesn’t know much else.

“I wanted to come here because everyone is so accomplished,” she said before entering Eisenhower Hall, where her West Point career was to begin.

“I don’t know how to do an about-face. I don’t know how to march.”

Smiling nervously, she added: “I hope (the veterans) will teach me.”