WEST POINT – Congressman Pat Ryan (D, NY-18) will be flooded with a variety of emotions and memories when he attends the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s graduation on Saturday.
Twenty years ago, Ryan graduated from West Point and was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. Fighting nerves, he remembers waking up bright and early to prepare for the monumental day. One of Ryan’s most treasured moments
is sprinting up the Michie Stadium stands to show his diploma to his grandfather, Jack Porsch, a World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient.
Adding to the anticipation of this year’s ceremony is that President Joe Biden is the commencement speaker.
“To be able to sit there as Commander-in-Chief addresses the cadets and families is also really meaningful,” said Ryan, an Iraqi war veteran. “Because of the timing, this year’s graduation will sort of kick off Memorial Day weekend. It is also a chance, with a heavy heart, to think about my classmates, my fellow soldiers, that we lost. It is also a time to think about the gravity of what is at stake. The graduates are about to head into an incredibly dangerous and risky global situation.”
Ryan said that 21 of his classmates from the West Point Class of 2004 have been killed while serving this country, the most since the Vietnam War era. Congressman Ryan wears a bracelet with all of their names on it and will be thinking about them throughout the holiday weekend.
The Academy will graduate approximately 1,025 cadets and commission them as second lieutenants. As vice president, Biden twice addressed a graduating class of cadets at the academy, but this will be his first time to do so as president. Donald Trump was the last president to speak at West Point commencement in 2020. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to the West Point Class of 2023.
“Every time I visit the Academy, especially now in this role, I talk to the cadets and I feel inspired and better about our country,” Ryan said. “These soon-to-be second lieutenants are going to have to go out there and deal with essentially a war in three theaters, or at least the threat of war. They are potentially going to immediately have to make life-and-death decisions. Just dealing with the weight of that is a lot, but I know they are prepared and ready.”
