The week after our grandson entered USMA as a member of the Class of 2022, my husband Jim and I had business to attend to on a beautiful, sun-filled, see-as-far-up-the-river as possible, unbelievably, quiet day at West Point. This was the day after thousands had attended the 4th of July concert, and West Point’s relative quietness now allowed us to be deep in thought and reflection. We were drawn to the twelve stone benches donated by the West Point Class of 1934 on Trophy Point. I remembered how I was always inspired by one bench in particular when I was jogging while we were living at West Point—perseverance.
As we were reading all the inscriptions on the sides of the twelve stone benches, I was lucky enough to overhear one of the West Point tour guides, who was standing next to the Great Chain, speaking of its history. She of course mentioned the old adage, “That a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”
I turned to my husband and said, “That also goes for the inscriptions on the benches: Compassion, Trust, Service, Courage, Perseverance, Determination, Dignity, Discipline, Responsibility, Dedication, Integrity, and Loyalty.” These values echo the U. S. Army values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage – Framing the Army of the Future – 1995 – The Days Forward) and forge the moral chain—backbone–that makes the leaders who lead by the examples they set. My husband and I spoke about each one of the values engraved on the benches and concluded that, while all were critical for success, without integrity a leader would ultimately fail. In other words, a lack of integrity would be the weak link that could cause an individual’s moral chain to break. Leadership is built upon all of these values working together, but without personal Integrity, the chain of values critical for leaders of character might be broken.
So, the next time you have the opportunity to visit Trophy Point, take a few moments to visit the stone benches and the remaining links of the Great Chain.
Battle Monument on Trophy Point overlooking the Hudson River
The first is made from stone, and the other from iron. While both are hard to break, weakness of a single link in the latter might have had lasting repercussions for Fortress West Point and its defense of the Hudson River against British forces. Equally, the lack of integrity by one of West Point’s graduates at a critical moment in time could affect the fate of the Nation.