#3-549
Radio Broadcast Remarks to Cadets and Alumni of the United States Military Academy
March 13, 1943 Miami, Florida
It is with a feeling of profound regard that I speak tonight to the cadets and the alumni of West Point.
Two years ago when I had a similar privilege, the great army of citizen soldiers was in the initial stage of mobilization, and the first million had just joined the ranks. At the time I was inspecting troop concentrations in the south, and spoke from Montgomery, Alabama. Tonight finds me in Miami, Florida, where almost a hundred thousand new members of the vast Air Corps are in training. Of their 1800 officers, but twelve are active members of the Regular Army, and but two of these are graduates of the Military Academy. Yet, even so, the traditions of West Point already permeate this great body of newly organized citizen soldiers. The traditions, the principles, and the methods which are practiced in the daily training of this command are closely related, if not identical, with those of your cadet days. The men themselves are an inspiring example of splendid manhood, vibrant with patriotic ardor to prepare themselves for the battle of the ages.
Our success in this war now depends on leadership. We have the best equipment. We have the finest personnel in the world. Given adequate leadership, the victory is certain, and we will be spared unnecessary loss of life and avoidable delays. The Military Academy provides the leaven and the standards for that leadership. In Australia and the Solomons, in the Far East and the Near East, in Algiers and Morocco, and in the British Isles, your graduates are furnishing the commanders of the modern American warriors. West Point is writing new history and I am certain it will be glorious history.
Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Speeches, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed draft.
Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), p. 583.