WEST POINT, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2023 / On Thursday, September 21, the West Point Association of Graduates presented the 2023 Sylvanus Thayer Award to the Honorable Elizabeth Dole, an attorney, author, and politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina from 2003 to 2009 and who founded The Elizabeth Dole Foundation in 2012 to empower, support, and honor the millions of military spouses, parents, family members and friends who care for America's wounded, ill or injured veterans.

The purpose of the Thayer Award, first awarded in 1958, is to "recognize an American citizen of outstanding character and accomplishments, whose stature in the civilian community draws wholesome comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives."

In his remarks prior to the presentation of the Thayer Award, the Honorable Robert A. McDonald, the Chairman of the West Point Association of Graduates and former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said, "Having Elizabeth Dole's name on the Thayer Award plaque and displaying her portrait in the Thayer Award Room of [the U.S. Military Academy's] Taylor Hall forever associates this great American with West Point and demonstrates to the public the ideals upon which it is built: ‘Duty, Honor, Country.'"

"If we can measure the prestige of an award by its past recipients, then this recognition is humbling indeed," noted Dole early in her acceptance speech, recalling how the West Point Association of Graduates presented the 2004 Thayer Award to her husband, Senator Bob Dole. The Doles are the only husband and wife to have ever received the Thayer Award.

Dole used her Thayer Award acceptance speech to champion the 5.5 million extraordinary Americans currently serving as a caregiver to a wounded soldier and to remind the Corps of Cadets assembled in the mess hall of what it means to be a servant leader-"to confront adversity, make sacrifices, face suffering, and take on the challenges that others find too complicated, too difficult, or too dangerous."

Earlier in the day, Dole was honored with a full-dress parade by the Corps of Cadets at West Point and had the opportunity to meet with cadets and visit the Thayer Award Room in Taylor Hall where her legacy of "Duty, Honor, Country" will be permanently preserved for future cadets alongside past Thayer Award honorees.

"Being in the presence of those who have answered the nation's call always gives me hope that the seeds of unity and the ideal of committing ourselves to something larger and more lasting remain fertile in America," said Dole.

About the Sylvanus Thayer Award

The Thayer Award, presented annually since 1958, is the highest honor currently bestowed upon a non-graduate by the West Point Association of Graduates. The selected recipient must be an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in the legendary West Point motto: "Duty, Honor, Country." The Award is named for Sylvanus Thayer (Class of 1808), Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1817 to 1833. Thayer is venerated as the "Father of the Military Academy" for improving West Point's academic standards, instilling military discipline and emphasizing honorable conduct, and his statue stands today in a place of honor on the historic Plain at West Point. Past recipients of the Thayer Award include General Ann Dunwoody, Leon Panetta, Robert Mueller, Gary Sinise, Bob Hope, Condoleezza Rice, General Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Tom Brokaw, Neil Armstrong, Walter Cronkite, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Dwight Eisenhower. By tradition, the Thayer Award recipient is honored with a full-dress parade by the Corps of Cadets at West Point. Afterwards, the recipient is presented with the Thayer medal and gives a formal address to the Corps. The honoree also has the opportunity to meet with cadets in the classroom and has his or her legacy of Duty, Honor, Country permanently preserved for future cadets in the Thayer Award Room in Taylor Hall at West Point. For a full list of previous Thayer Award recipients, visit www.WestPointAOG.org/ThayerAwardrecipients.

CONTACT:

Jaye Donaldson
jaye.donaldson@wpaog.org
845-446-1516

SOURCE: West Point Association of Graduates