NATION : West Point Honors Reagan

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Former President Ronald Reagan, his hair as closely cropped as that of the cadets he was addressing, told America’s future military leaders at the U.S. Military Academy today that they “are keepers of the peace.”

“My service record certainly can’t explain my presence here,” Reagan said prior to receiving the Sylvanus Thayer Award before the academy’s 4,400 cadets, West Point staff and others.

Reagan, his hair still growing back after recent cranial surgery, was greeted with cheers and whistles as he entered the cavernous West Point Mess Hall.

The retired President said his receiving the award also could not be based on his academic achievements. He mentioned that his alma mater, Eureka College, had given him an honorary degree a few years ago, but “I always felt the first degree they had given was honorary.”