West Point celebrates its bicentennial

KARI NEERING GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The U.S. Military Academy has prided itself on a history of timeless leadership, 200 years in the making.

West Point's bicentennial celebrates two centuries of cadets and their time spent at the academy meeting intellectual, physical, military and ethical demands -- a four-year process known as the West Point Experience.

The official celebration began in August with the Acceptance Day parade for the class of 2005 and will continue through the class of 2002's graduation in June.

The academy's actual birthday on Saturday will be commemorated with a coin and stamp unveiling ceremony.

Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Mint will participate in the event, a rare instance for two commemoratives to be issued at the same time.

The coin, designed by U.S. Mint sculptor and engraver James Farrell, features a cadet color guard in a parade exercise with the academy's Washington Hall and Cadet Chapel in the background. The reverse, designed by U.S. Mint sculptor and engraver John Mercanti, displays the West Point bicentennial logo.

The stamp and coin will be available for sale Saturday -- the stamp for 34 cents, and the coin as a proof silver dollar for $33 and as an uncirculated silver dollar for $30.

Security has been heightened at West Point since the Sept. 11 attacks, and bicentennial visitors will be subject to security checks.

President Thomas Jefferson signed the legislation that established West Point on March 16, 1802.

From its beginning, West Point has turned out a long gray line of graduates including influential leaders such as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Norman Schwarzkopf.

Writer Edgar Allen Poe had a stint at the academy but eventually became one of its most famous dropouts.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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