[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 11 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Pages 393-394]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 7531--Bicentennial Day of the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, 2002

March 11, 2002

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    For two centuries, the United States Military Academy at West Point, 
New York, has trained, educated, and inspired thousands of cadets to 
serve our Nation with integrity, skill, and fortitude as members of our 
military's officer corps. West Point emphasizes the very highest 
standards of personal honor, academic achievement, and public duty, 
preparing its graduates for lives of patriotic commitment and 
distinguished service. Since the school's beginnings, West Point alumni 
have played an immensely important role in protecting our national 
security and preserving democracy around the world.
    Upon this 200th anniversary of the Academy's founding, we celebrate 
West Point's great contributions to the success and strength of America. 
We pay tribute to the Academy's extraordinary tradition of valor, 
victory, and sacrifice. This hallowed history is filled with the names 
of soldiers who fought and sometimes died to preserve and protect the 
founding principles of our country, ensuring that we can live today in a 
free and democratic Republic.
    On March 16, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed an Act of 
Congress establishing the United States Military Academy at West Point, 
New York. Since its inception, the institution has played a central role 
in the training of America's future military leaders. And West Point 
graduates have marked our history with courage beyond the call of duty; 
integrity that brought honor to themselves, their school, and their 
Nation; and military skills that achieved victory after victory.
    Academy graduates have long fulfilled West Point's noble tradition 
of selfless service to country. General John J. Pershing led the 
American Expeditionary Force to victory in World War I. And in World War 
II, Generals Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, and 
George Patton proved again the resourcefulness, bravery, and skill of 
West Point's graduates, helping to lead the Allies to victory over 
tyranny. In Korea and Vietnam, during Operation Desert Storm, and now in 
Operation Enduring Freedom, West Point graduates, like Generals Brent 
Scowcroft, Roscoe Robinson, H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and Franklin 
``Buster'' Hagenbeck, have continued to make significant contributions 
and great sacrifices for America and her people. And the graduates of 
West Point continue to be prepared to make the greatest sacrifice. We 
remember with deep respect and honor, the sacrifice made by Academy 
graduate, Major Curtis Feistner, who recently gave his life in the fight 
against terror.
    As part of the 200th anniversary of the United States Military 
Academy, I encourage all Americans to reflect on the Academy's 
incomparable history of contribution to our country's national security 
and to remember the West Point graduates who made the ultimate sacrifice 
in the defense of freedom. The Academy's role in protecting our homeland 
and in shaping our next generation of battlefield leaders deserves the 
gratitude and respect of every American. I am pleased to pay tribute to 
this noble school upon the occasion of its historic anniversary; and I 
am honored to be serving today as Commander in Chief of so many of its 
fine graduates.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of 
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 16, 2002, as West 
Point Bicentennial Day. I encourage Federal, State, and local officials, 
as well as leaders of civil, social, educational, and military 
organizations, to conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate the 
United

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States Military Academy and the values it represents and upholds.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of 
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:39 a.m., March 12, 
2002]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on March 
13.