(Newswire.net — September 5, 2015) — A bad joke turned traditional West Point Pillow Fight into a bloody showdown, after unidentified jokers put hard objects into some cadet’s pillows.
The US military academy West Point in New York confirmed on Thursday that 30 cadets had been injured, of which 24 had suffered from concussion.
“West Point applauds the cadets’ desire to build esprit and regrets the injuries to our cadets,” Lt. Colonel Christopher Kasker, spokesman for the academy, told The New York Times.
“We are conducting appropriate investigations into the causes of the injuries,” he said.
The annual fight that happened in 20th August is a traditional way cadets ‘let steam’ after finishing the training year. The fight is generally organized by first-year students to build camaraderie and prepare them for the second year, ,” Lt. Colonel Kasker told NW Times. Upperclassmen are supposed to take measures to prevent injuries, such as requiring cadets to wear helmets, he said.
Reportedly, helmets did preserve the heads of students, however, broken lips, dislocated shoulders, some broken bones and some blood spilled. The fight turned violent after some cadets packed pillowcases with hard objects that hit hard others throwing some of cadets unconscious, according to NYT.
The pillow Fight video ended up circulating across social networks. Col. Kasker told NYT that no cadets have been punished and the academy has no plans to end the pillow fight.
West Point is the oldest service academy in the US, established in 1802. Because of the academy’s age and unique mission, its traditions have influenced other institutions. For example, West Point academy was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program, the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools.
The academy educating and commissioning a long list of officers among were prominent members such as David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Army General Stanley McChrystal.