Summary
- Tom
Hanks was set to receive West Point’s Sylvanus Thayer Award. - The
West Point alumni group canceled the award ceremony without explanation. - Trump
praised the cancellation, calling Hanks “destructive” and
“woke.”
The US president praised the US Military Academy (also known
as West Point) alumni association on social media Monday for abruptly canceling
a ceremony honoring Hanks, a two-time Academy Award winner who has portrayed a
number of military characters and has a long history of supporting veterans.
Trump wrote:
“Our great West Point (getting greater all the
time!) has smartly cancelled the Award Ceremony for actor Tom Hanks. Important
move! We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American
Awards!!! Hopefully the Academy Awards, and other Fake Award Shows, will review
their Standards and Practices in the name of Fairness and Justice. Watch their
DEAD RATINGS SURGE!”
Later this month, Hanks was supposed to get the 2025
Sylvanus Thayer Award for his “service and accomplishments in the national
interest.”
Without explaining the connection between the two, retired
Col. Mark Bieger wrote in a message to faculty that the cancellation would
enable the school to “continue its focus on its core mission of preparing
cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force,
the United States Army”.
He has a strong commitment to the concerns of veterans. He
served as the spokesperson for the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, on
a national level. As stated in the initial statement of the alumni
organization, he also backed Bob Dole’s campaign to raise money for the Dwight
D. Eisenhower Memorial.
He has previously received
an honorable induction into the Ranger Hall of Fame of the United States Army.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Forrest Gump, the Vietnam War soldier for whom he won an
Oscar for best actor, Capt. John Miller in Saving Private Ryan, and Cmdr. Ernie
Krause in Greyhound, for which he also created the screenplay, are a few of his
military roles. In addition, he played the lead in the 2013 movie Captain
Phillips and made an appearance in the Cold War movie Bridge of Spies.
His work has earned him seven Emmys and five Academy Award
nominations for best actor, which he won twice in a row, making him one of the
most honored actors in the United States.
Trump has frequently bemoaned his failure to win an Emmy for
his reality television show The Apprentice, saying that he “should have
gotten it,” that he “got screwed out of an Emmy,” and that
“the Emmys are all politics.” Trump has also dabbled in acting, including
a cameo in Home Alone 2.
How have veterans groups and military figures reacted to the
decision?
Many veterans have interpreted the cancellation as a
politically-driven decision as part of broader cultural and political divisions
that threaten to undermine respect for military service and national
unity.
Veterans insist military honors should transcend
partisanship and should seek to recognize real contributions to veterans and
the armed forces. Hanks has contributed to the world of veterans both by
portraying service members in the media and by advocating on behalf of
veterans.
Some military officials and veterans have expressed
disappointment in the politicization and loss of apolitical military
institutions. They seem to view the decision to cancel the event as a betrayal
of values that veterans have stood up for, particularly the apolitical values.
Some worry that actions like this can hamper morale, befoul trust in military
traditions, and degrade the relationship between military and the public
accountability for those in uniform.
