Duty, honor, country: More than just words for Rep. Eastman to hide behind

I am writing in response to the opinion piece published in the Alaska Daily News on October 12, 2022, by Mr. Gregory Fisher, titled “Courting Disaster: Unseating Elected Representatives via the Judiciary is a Dangerous Precedent.” Specifically, this is responding not to his opinions on the pending litigation against Representative David Eastman (R, Wasilla), but rather his statement that as a West Point graduate, Rep. Eastman “holds now outdated values of ‘duty, honor, country.’”

As a fellow West Point graduate, I respectfully assert that these values are not outdated, and that Rep. Eastman does not in fact hold these cherished values.

In his now famous speech to the Corps of Cadets on May 12, 1962, General Douglas MacArthur spoke those three words- Duty, Honor, Country. This is the motto of West Point, and the General’s speech is inscribed verbatim around his statue outside the barracks I lived in for four years. To quote General MacArthur, “The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral law and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promoted for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong.”

Turning now to the matter at hand. I submit that Rep. Eastman should not be allowed to shroud himself in “those three hallowed words,” as Gen. MacArthur called them.

How can you claim to value Duty, Honor, Country when you are an unapologetic life member of the Oath Keepers? On the surface, keeping an oath sounds laudable. However, do not be fooled-this is an organization dedicated to the overthrow of the United States Government. But don’t take my word for it. Look at the Combating Terrorism Center’s publication on this organization. The CTC is a research institution at West Point, the very school Mr. Fisher invokes. In their article titled “The Oath Keepers and Their Role in the January 6th Insurrection,” they describe the organization as “an anti-government, anti-authority right-wing extremist organization.” This article is a disturbing indictment of what appears to be a dangerous organization that seems to be obsessed with armed violence against our government. Surely, the code invoked by Duty, Honor, Country restrains someone from being a member of an organization like this.

How can you claim to value Duty, Honor, Country when you proudly pose next to a picture of Adolf Hitler? Or when you compare the sitting president to Hitler, and share a link to a known Holocaust denial website? Or when you further compound the issue by not only failing to apologize, but stubbornly refuse to back down? Surely, the code restrains someone from this behavior.

I write this letter to distance myself from Rep. Eastman. While we are both West Point graduates, we both do not hold the same values. Duty, Honor, Country are values that I hold very dearly. To Rep. Eastman, those words appear to be a veil he hides behind while acting directly contrary to them. I cannot speak on behalf of West Point or the Long Grey Line, as we call our alumni. However, over 70 graduates from around the country wrote an open letter calling on Rep. Eastman to resign over his Oath Keeper membership. Rep. Eastman has also been disinvited from all West Point Society of Alaska events, primarily over his choice to post a link to a Holocaust denial website and subsequent refusal to take it down. I ultimately write this letter in hope that you will not judge my alma mater by the actions of Rep. Eastman. Instead, please remember us for our heroes like Grant, Pershing, Eisenhower, Bradley, and other great leaders of our beloved country.

Adam is a West Point graduate living in Eagle River. His views are his own, and do not represent the official position of West Point, or any other Government agency.