From the “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” Department: West Point’s annual plebe pillow fight ended in actual bloodshed, broken bones, and 24 concussions.
According to West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr., the majority of the plebes participating in the traditional fight, which took place on August 20, kept to the spirit of the thing—meaning they didn’t arm themselves with the white sale equivalent of a medieval flail.
More from Fox News:
Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker told the newspaper the annual fight is organized by first-year students as a way to build camaraderie after a grueling summer of training to prepare them for plebe life.He said upperclassmen overseeing the fight required cadets to wear helmets, but video shows many did not. Some cadets swung pillowcases believed to be packed with their helmets.The Times noted one freshman posted on Twitter: “4 concussions, 1 broken leg, 2 broken arms, 1 dislocated shoulder, and several broken ribs. That’s one hell of a pillow fight. #USMA19.”Kasker said all cadets have since returned to duty. None of the participants have been punished.
Just watch the video—you know you want to:
This is the sort of thing that will prompt a week-long gaze into the chasm that is America’s navel, but to be fair to those who were involved, not everyone on the ground was exactly thrilled with those who chose to inflict serious injuries on their classmates:
West Point cadets had mixed reactions to the injuries this year. Some saw them as a rite of passage in a school known for being tough; others saw a lack of judgment and restraint.“At first the body count, people were joking about it,” a female first-year cadet said. “My friends were really excited. And right after, when we learned how many people had gotten hurt, everyone felt totally hard-core. I know it looks weird from the outside, but it really bonds us.”But when she saw a male cadet being loaded into an ambulance outside her dorm room, she began to have second thoughts.“If you are an officer, you are supposed to make good decisions and follow the rules. You are supposed to mediate when everyone wants to go out and kill everyone,” she said. “The goal was to have fun, and it ended up some guys just chose to hurt people.”
West Point currently has no plans to nix the tradition. +100 for avoiding a knee-jerk reaction!
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