Early last December the West Point/Pete Hegseth kerfuffle burst into our news feeds. At that time the odds of Hegseth being confirmed as our next secretary of defense were long and getting longer by the day. It was very clear that both the military and media establishment didn’t want him in that role. The character assassination was its own machine, nonstop, and no holds barred. Then West Point entered the fray by twice denying that Hegseth had been accepted there. Hegseth was a public figure and had, as any public figure does, told the story of his life many times, including that although he was accepted into West Point, he declined and attended Princeton instead.
You would think this is an easy detail to confirm. Yet, somehow, an elite military school got it wrong — communications staff denied he had been accepted there, including a second time when a reporter followed up by again asking if Hegseth had been accepted. West Point reversed course after being confronted with the evidence of Hegseth posting his acceptance letter on X.
West Point either showed incompetence and sloppiness or told a willful lie to hurt Hegseth’s nomination. For us civilian patriots, we hold institutions like West Point in high regard. We expect honesty and transparency. Yet its staff seemed willing to change the trajectory of a man’s life right up to the moment they got caught. It was shocking that West Point could be so cavalier about another man’s future.
Just as I was forgetting all about what West Point did to Hegseth, I learned about West Point Cadet Isaiah Hurst. He should graduate in May. Instead, he was thrown out of the military and hit with a $200,000 bill. The more I learned and read the documents pertaining to his case, I kept thinking that this cannot be happening. West Point would never do that to a cadet. I was wrong.
Military Family
Hurst comes from a military family. His grandfather served 22 years of active duty with three tours of Vietnam and is a Purple Heart recipient. His father retired from the Air Force after 29 years (nine active) with one deployment to Iraq. His brother is also a West Point graduate, currently serving. His fiancé (their wedding is this summer) is also a West Point graduate. She branched into military police and is currently finishing basic officer leadership course training. The odds of two brothers getting into West Point are slim. This is a proud military family and Hurst is the product of that service. He enlisted in 2019, became a 68W combat medic, graduated from airborne school in 2020, and a year later received his appointment to the class of 2025 at West Point. […]
— Read More: thefederalist.com
