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West Point abruptly cancels Tom Hanks award ceremony

September 8, 2025 | | Print Article

Award or not, there will be no parade for one of Hollywood’s elite after a West Point alumni association abruptly nixed a ceremony set to honor a Trump-loathing celebrity.

Among the election promises promptly followed through on by President Donald Trump, the administration has endeavored to set the military back on mission, doing away with DEI and cultural agendas outside the purview of the armed forces. Friday, mere weeks away from a scheduled ceremony and parade, a letter from the West Point Association of Graduates detailed that the event was off, leaving doubt as to whether or not Tom Hanks would be honored.

As reported by the Washington Post, a letter was distributed late last week by retired U.S. Army Col. Mark Bieger, president of the West Point Association of Graduates, that explained plans to cancel the ceremony for the Sylvanus Thayer Award, “This decision allows the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army.”

A year after former President Barack Obama had been given the honor awarded each year since 1958, it was announced that Hanks was set to receive the award given to “citizen of the United States, other than a West Point graduate, whose outstanding character, accomplishments, and stature in the civilian community draw wholesome comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives, in keeping with its motto: ‘Duty, Honor, Country.'”

“Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers, and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans,” expressed the alumni association’s board Chairman Robert McDonald in June.

In addition to his roles in “Saving Private Ryan,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Greyhound,” Hanks’ production credits on “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” were also cited, as they addressed philanthropic efforts such as support for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Treating the timing as more than coincidence, while it remained unknown whether or not the actor would still receive the award despite the ceremony’s cancellation, the Post’s report suggested that “Trump-era politics” were to blame, citing Hanks’ support for the Biden administration and his “Saturday Night Live” portrayal of a racist Trump supporter.

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Meanwhile, Friday’s email to West Point faculty coincided with the president restoring the name of the Department of War after decades of being known as the Department of Defense. In a statement from the Oval Office, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addressed how the name restoration was also about “restoring the warrior ethos” as he promised the U.S. military would be practicing “maximum lethality, not tepid legality.”

In addition to criticism for moving to Greece, the ceremony snub against Hanks was well received on social media by users who believe that “Common sense has prevailed.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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