What Wasn't on TV

Can anyone confirm that Dan appeared on television during President Obama’s speech at West Point on Tuesday night?  Joking, joking…thanks to all of you out there who let him know that you saw him!

Dan and I both wish to thank the faculty and staff at the USMA for being such gracious and generous hosts to us and for allowing us to witness such a momentous event.

A few thoughts on what didn’t appear on television:

The picture above is an admittedly poor quality shot of Dan with some of the cadets he led through West Point’s Cadet Basic Training in the summer of 2006. The young men pictured in this photo—and several young women who aren’t shown—volunteered, like Dan, to attend West Point in the years after 9/11.  Here's my summary of Dan's message to them:

“No matter what the President says here tonight, and no matter your personal feeling about this or any other conflict, as long as American men and women continue to serve in harm’s way, it is your duty and privilege to lead them. I was privileged to lead men in combat; I felt and continue to feel that I had the best job in the world; and my only regret is that I wasn’t able to remain in the field longer with my men. Each and every one of you is lucky to have the honor of the challenge on which you’re about to embark.”

Followed shortly thereafter with “stepping on an IED sucked.”

Over the course of our day on West Point's campus, Dan was approached by hundreds of members of the cadet corps, and got to have some variation of that conversation with most of them.

All of the men and women he spoke with understood that the policy decisions enunciated later that evening by the President would directly affect them in a way that is foreign to most Americans, and in a way that Dan visibly embodies. And virtually all were eager to talk to Dan, hear his story, and thank him for his service. All in all it made for an inspiring trip.

And yes, the media still seem to think that Dan is an interesting guy. Not sure why. Here’s a quick round-up:

NBC Nightly News has a long clip of an interview Dan gave shortly after the President concluded his remarks:

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ABC’s Good Morning America included a quick quote from Dan in a piece on their Wednesday morning show (click here for the video):

 
ABC News’ Jake Tapper blogs about Dan here.

The Seattle Times’ Hal Bernton writes about Dan here.

And lastly, my favorite:  a screen-shot from PBS’ coverage of the speech identifying Dan’s long-lost brother Frank: