Professor Anthony J. Bajdek, former National Vice President for American Affairs of the Polish American Congress organized, 2023 Kosciuszko Conference on May 5th and Kosciuszko Memorial Ceremony on May 6th, at United States Military Academy at West Point.
The Annual Two-Day Kosciuszko Program at West Point Consisting of an Annual Kosciuszko Conference that occurred on May 5, followed by Kosciuszko-related Commemorations on May 6, 2023, back after the Covid pandemic break.
Both annual events at West Point are coordinated by the military and civilian staff of the United States Military Academy, as assigned by its Superintendent, and working in tandem with the American Association of the Friends of Kosciuszko at West Point (AAFKWP), a 501 (c) (3) educational and social entity established in 2003, by Northeastern University Associate Dean Emeritus Anthony J. Bajdek, who has been producing these annual conferences and commemorations of General Kosciuszko’s past achievements and present importance as exemplary soldier of democracy and equality.
At 9 a.m. on Friday, May 5, the morning session of the Conference took place in the elegant Eisenhower Room of the Thayer Hotel, situated 100 feet above the Hudson River. The windows along the east side of this room present us with a breathtaking view of the bend in the Hudson River where the wooden boom and the iron chain were deployed by Continental soldiers to stop British ships sailing north from New York City.
Readers recall that the goal of the British was to control the Hudson River in order to divide New England from the other colonies. Kosciuszko played a key role in thwarting this British plan. First, he chose and fortified the battlefield at Saratoga where British General John Burgoyne’s army, marching south along the west bank of the Hudson River from Canada, was decisively defeated. Second, Kosciuszko fortified West Point to prevent British forces from commanding the Hudson River and dividing the colonies.
At the Conference’s morning and afternoon sessions, ten first-rate speakers presented papers on: the role of Kosciuszko as soldier of democracy in America and Poland, the AAFKWP, and the Kosciuszko Squadron, an association of West Point Cadets. Future articles about the Conference will include summaries of these ten papers.
On Saturday, May 6, the Conference participants continued their annual Spring weekend at he Academy that was established in 1802 by an Act of the United States Congress, thereby making West Point America’s oldest continuing military installation. The antiquity of West Point is a perfect location for its Kosciuszko Monument which itself is the world’s second oldest national monument raised to his memory, with the oldest being the Kosciuszko Mound in Krakow, Poland that was completed in 1823.
For the admirers and followers of Kosciuszko’s life who travel to West Point each spring, May 6 began with a Kosciuszko Memorial Mass, at the Catholic Cadet Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity at West Point, which was celebrated by Reverend Father Matthew Pawlikowski, Colonel, U.S. Army (ret.), and USMA Chaplain.
The United States Military Academy Cadet Review (i.e. parade) on the Plain took place at 9:30 a.m.
At 11:30 a.m. Poland’s Ambassador to the United States Marek Magierowski, and Lithuania’s Ambassador to the United States Audra Plepyte, delivered speeches, which will appear in a future article, at the Annual USMA Kosciuszko Memorial Ceremony at the at the Kosciuszko Monument that was dedicated and paid for by the USMA Corps of Cadets on July 4, 1828.
This is what the President of the AAFKWP, Anthony J. Bajdek, said at the conclusion of the Kosciuszko Monument ceremony:
“Despite the fact that West Point’s 195 year old beloved Kościuszko Monument must undergo comprehensive restorative intervention, it is a tribute to Kościuszko’s storied integrity as a champion of freedom, independence, democracy and equality that we gather at this sacred place to sustain honoring his memory. Indeed, you have reflected here today his advice that in the final analysis, “let your life be such that all will praise it,” which, as he originally wrote it in Polish had been: ,,Zachowanie twoje wreszcie niech będzie takie, aby je każdy pochwalał.”
By John Czop
Polish American Congress National Director
New Jersey Division
