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American Morning

West Point Celebrates 200 Year Anniversary Tomorrow

Aired March 15, 2002 - 07:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The British were coming, the British were coming. During the American Revolution, a military position was established on the Hudson River to keep British troops from sailing up the river and taking control of the Hudson Valley. Well the British never came, but the defensive base at West Point remained. And 200 years ago tomorrow, President Thomas Jefferson signed the law making it the site of the Military Academy.

And standing by at West Point, someone who is ready for this big celebration, our own Anderson Cooper.

Good morning, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Paula.

You probably didn't know, this is the oldest, continuously occupied fort in America. How about that factoid, huh? Pretty good, huh?

ZAHN: I didn't know that. Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: That's right. I'm at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Tomorrow, as you pointed out, is Founder's Day, 200 hundred years of service to this country. As you said, Thomas Jefferson established the Military Academy at the recommendation of General George Washington, John Adams and some others. And you know a lot of -- a lot of famous people have been here.

Just a few minutes ago, we had the cadets who were assembled out here. They went off to breakfast and then they went off to classes. Now an interesting thing, it's -- here you don't call them freshmen, juniors or seniors. You -- there are different names. Freshmen are plebes, sophomores are yearlings, juniors are cows and seniors are firsties, just in case you're taking notes at home. But there have been a lot of -- a lot of famous people who have come here, a lot of military leaders, a lot of people who have served this country very honorably.

Just an interesting point, my great-great grandfather actually graduated from here in 1861 in the class -- same class as Custer. Not an auspicious beginning, perhaps. He's actually buried here. He was a general, a Calvary officer during the Civil War. I think we have some pictures that we're going to show, Judson Kilpatrick (ph). And he was a little bit of a scoundrel apparently, kind of a lady's man. Was actually literally once caught with his pants down. Was -- actually served some time in Union prison, but we don't talk about that at family reunions, you know, we look at the bright side, the Union side won.

So -- and but there are far more famous, far more esteemed people who have graduated from here. Right here is a statue of Dwight David Eisenhower, class of 1915, one of the two people who have been presidents who have graduated from here. Just -- does anyone know at home who else was a president who graduated from West Point? I'll tell you, Ulysses S. Grant. He was a president and graduated from West Point along with Eisenhower. (INAUDIBLE) astronaut graduated from here. There have been just an incredible number of people who have graduated from this very esteemed institution.

The Founder's Day is tomorrow. There are going to be celebrations tonight at Carnegie Hall in New York City, celebrations up here tomorrow. And there's a lot to celebrate -- Paula.

ZAHN: So is it a special day for either the plebes, the yearlings, the cows or the firsties? What do they get to do?

COOPER: Well they go to class. You know there's no messing around here at West Point. They're not -- they don't have these long holidays that we had when we were in school. They -- they're in class. There are some special events tonight that they can go to. At the Carnegie Hall event, the Cadet Choir Glee Club is going to be singing as well as the U.S. Military Academy Band. So there are -- there are events for them, but it's -- it is another day of classes here for the -- for the cadets.

ZAHN: Tell you one thing, I think the grounds there are some of the most beautiful in the country, aren't they?

COOPER: They definitely are. You know another thing that they've done here is they've actually struck a commemorative coin and a stamp both at the same time. It's the first time in history that a stamp and a coin have been struck at the same time. That's going to be issued tomorrow -- Paula.

ZAHN: And it's probably the only place where if you're a plebe or a yearling you're dreaming about becoming a cow, right?

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: Then you become a junior.

COOPER: Moo.

ZAHN: All right, thanks, Anderson. We'll be checking back in with you throughout the morning.

COOPER: Thank you.

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