A West Point alumni group cancelled an upcoming award ceremony for Tom Hanks on the same day as Donald Trump announced his most recent executive order.
The US president, 79, signed an executive order on Friday (5 September) to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
It's a throwback to the department's original name from 1789 to 1947. But unless Congress approves the name change, the Department of War title will remain secondary.
Already, though, the department's website has switched to war.gov, as have its social media accounts (via Sky News).
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“We won the first world war, we won the second world war, we won everything before that and in between,” Trump said at the signing. “And then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to the Department of Defense.”
The move happened to be on the same day the West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG) reportedly announced they would be cancelling an awards ceremony for Forrest Gump actor Hanks, 69.
Hanks - who has played US service members in films such as Saving Private Ryan and Greyhound - was set to receive the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award at a ceremony on 25 September.
However, Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, president and chief executive officer of the West Point Association of Graduates, reportedly said in an email on Friday that the ceremony would be cancelled.
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“This decision allows the Academy 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,” Bieger wrote, according to the Washington Post.
It remains unclear whether Hanks will still receive the award at a later point or if it has been revoked entirely.
The Sylvanus Thayer Award 'has been given annually since 1958 to an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point’s motto Duty, Honor, Country'.
“Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans,” said the Honorable Robert A. McDonald, Class of 1975, WPAOG Board Chairman in June.
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Hanks also said: “To have my first ever visit to the Academy be to accept such an honor as the Thayer Award is simply astounding. West Point’s legacy of leadership, character, and service to the nation is a powerful example for all Americans.
“To be recognised by an institution whose graduates have shaped our country’s history through selfless service is both humbling and meaningful.”
The WPAOG is the official alumni association for the United States Military Academy (USMA), dedicated to supporting the academy and its graduates, known as the 'Long Gray Line'.
LADbible Group has contacted West Point and Hanks’ representatives for comment.
Topics: Tom Hanks, US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Anish Vij