Cheney Rallies Graduates of Air Force Academy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —  Vice President Dick Cheney told graduating cadets at the Air Force Academy on Wednesday that they would help lead the nation to victory in the war against “freedom’s enemies.”

Interrupted by cheers from the 906 graduates, Cheney noted that they were the last freshman class to enroll before the deadly attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

“Four years ago, when you arrived at the Air Force Academy, some believed our nation had entered a long period of relative quiet with few real threats to our security and little reason to expect serious danger,” said Cheney, who later handed out diplomas. “All of you remember that Tuesday morning in 2001.”

For the Air Force Academy, the past four years proved tumultuous in other ways. Allegations of widespread sexual harassment and assault rocked the academy in 2003, forced the ouster of top commanders and reverberate now as an airman and a senior cadet face court-martial proceedings. Authorities also have begun investigating allegations that cadets were pressured to convert to evangelical Christianity.

Cheney mentioned none of this in his remarks, but took the opportunity to come full circle, having delivered the commencement address here in 2001, the last before the attacks. He said the United States would “not sit back and wait for future attacks. We will prevent those attacks by taking the fight to the enemy.”

Cheney’s speech struck home for cadet Jaymie Van Kooten of Sewickley, Pa. “I think we came in innocent, naive. I remember seeing the towers falling and I knew we were going to rewrite the book. It definitely matured our class,” she said after tossing her cap in the air.