Panetta
WEST POINT – Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will be presented with the annual Thayer Award at the U.S. Military Academy on October 4.
The Corps of Cadets will conduct a parade in his honor at 5 p.m. on the Plain, prior to the award presentation dinner.
Panetta currently serves on the boards of directors for Oracle and Blue Shield of California. He also serves as co-chairman of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Defense Personnel Task Force and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Countering Violent Extremism.
The Thayer Award, named in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, “Father of the Military Academy,” is presented to an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify West Point’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” The Association of Graduates has presented the award annually since 1958.
Past recipients include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, Barbara Jordon, Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger. Last year’s recipient was former President George W. Bush.
