The U.S. Military Academy at West Point recently changed its mission statement, dropping the word 'country' from it -- and WWL's Newell Normand called the decision a "head scratcher."
Those words are being replaced with "Army Values."
Why is that?
The change comes from an 'assessment by leaders across West Point and external stakeholders.' And some are accusing those stakeholders of being 'woke.'
Jeff Kuhner, host of a conservative podcast, wrote on the social media platform that "West Point is going woke." He added: "We're watching the slow death of our country."
The new academy statement reads: "To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation." These values include loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage, according to the U.S. Army."
"One would have a difficult time not admitting that it's just not vogue today to be proud of country," Normand said. "We're proud of our family. Is it perfect? no. None that I'm aware of. We're proud of a lot of things that aren't perfect."
Detractors say the country isn't perfect and Normand agreed. But you know what? "It's the best," he added.
In a statement to Newsweek, Colonel Terence Kelley, Director of Public Affairs and Communications for West Point, wrote: "'Duty, Honor, Country' is West Point's motto and the foundation of our culture as it has been since 1898. As we have done nine times in the past century, we have updated our mission statement to now include the Army Values, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, integrity, and personal courage."