Valley Forge Military Academy Graduation Remarks
Saturday, June 2, 2007
by Attorney General Tom Corbett

Thank you President  McGeorge, Chairman Nolen, Colonel Doyle, Dean Townsend and Colonel Steele, along with faculty, staff, honored guests, students and parents.  I am honored to be a part of your celebration today.

This is a wonderful day for everyone gathered here, but most certainly for the parents.  For them, today is another milestone as they watch you grow and develop from boys into men.  I know they are proud, just as I know that they will never stop wishing the best for you.

Graduates, before you do anything else today -- for their faith in you, and for the substantial advantages they have provided to you, it is important that you thank your parents.  In fact, if you will indulge a former Army Captain for a moment, I would like to have your class President direct you all to stand, turn, and salute your parents: Mr. Roque, would you please do the honors?

You can relax now - no more drill! 

I am certain that your academy family - the faculty and staff here at Valley Forge - are equally proud of you today.  They have seen you grow from incoming "plebes" to leaders of the "first class" in every sense of the word, now ready for the next phase of your education and careers.

History and tradition permeate this academy.  I am certain you have all marched across this parade field countless times.  The lessons you have learned here, whether they came in the classroom or on this field, are something that you will carry along with you in your hearts and in your minds for decades to come. Be mindful of those lessons and allow them to guide you on the right course through life.

Parents, instructors, friends, mentors and classmates have all done their share to get you to this point.  Now is the time to put those lessons to work, or, in the words of one of your best known graduates - General Normal Schwarzkopf - When placed in command - take charge!

Today is one of those special transition points in life, when opportunities abound and possibilities are limitless.  It is a step across the threshold from youth into adulthood - from learning to doing.  You are now firmly in command of your future, so take charge.  We are all anxious to see what you will be able to accomplish.

A few moments ago, I mentioned that your time here at Valley Forge Academy has provided you with certain advantages as you move forward in life.   Perhaps the most important of all, is the discipline that has been instilled in you.  For many of you, especially those of you headed to college, rather than the academies, you are about to experience something that you've not had for the past four or six years: FREEDOM.

Your daily rituals, from "first call" and daily formations to "to study halls" and "taps," structured your academic and recreational activities.  You went where you were told, ate when you were told, drilled when you were told, studied when you were told and slept when you were told.  The only personal choice you had along the way was whether or not you would meet the challenges presented to you --  and since you all reported here for graduation today, I have to assume that you succeeded in that endeavor.

For most of you, that structure of daily activities will fade away when you step off these grounds.  No longer will anyone be telling you what to do or how to do it.  Instead, you will have to rely on self-direction and self-discipline to guide you. That is where you have a tremendous head-start over many of your future classmates or colleagues.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way: College, and life beyond it, can be a very distracting and difficult place without self-discipline.  My basic training came after college -- in 1971, long before you were born and perhaps long before your parents even met -- but that training changed the way I go about everything. 

Since then, every task that I have faced -- from Law School to the Attorney General's Office -- has been attacked with the discipline that was instilled in me. If you approach your days, your studies and your careers with the discipline that you have developed here, you are destined to go far.

In addition to discipline, it is equally important that you approach your future endeavors with strength of conviction - a clear moral compass to give you your bearing.  When I entered basic training I quickly learned that there was one skill I had that was lacking in many others - how to read a map.  Even now, some three decades later, as I criss-cross Pennsylvania for official events, I take pride in being able to navigate quickly and easily -- my younger aides call it "Corbett-quest," instead of MapQuest.

There is something reassuring about being certain of where you are, and to plan out where you are going -- whether it is for a trip across town, or a journey through life.  I can tell you one thing for certain - your direction through life is not going to be posted on "Google Maps," but will come from that moral compass you hold inside you.

At times like these - especially in this military school setting - it would be fitting to quote Douglas MacArthur's famed remarks to West Point cadets:
Duty, Honor, Country, he said.  Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be and what you will be.

More fitting, perhaps, is something he said later, during an interview in 1964 (just 3 months before his death).  He talked about the things he learned, and the things that had guided him, not found within the covers of books.  Tolerance, balance and intelligence are all vital, he said, but he closed with  this:

Last, but by no means least, courage - moral courage.  The courage of one's convictions, the courage to see things through. The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle - the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.

Whether you're destined for one of the Academies or college, and whether your life's work is dedicated to a military career, public service or the private sector, your strength of character, your moral courage, will be put to an almost daily test.  Today's ceremony marks your departure from these classrooms, but it does not mean you will stop learning, or growing, or seeking guidance for those you know and trust.  

Today marks your arrival at a point in life where the control and responsibility for your actions rests squarely on your shoulders.  Put simply - "Don't do stupid things!"

In our world of instant communication and electronic data storage, the things you do, the comments you make, the photos you take, and the mistakes you make are shared instantly, and will stay with you for the rest of your life.  Schools and employers are cruising through MySpace and YouTube - and running their own Google searches - checking to see if the person they met in an interview matches the person they find on the Internet.  Yesterday's "youthful indiscretion" is today's "You-Tube Featured Video."

From the comical to the criminal, we are bombarded with daily news coverage of people's poor choices.  Ethics - and more specifically Ethical Lapses - have become a national obsession. We see it in the news on an almost daily basis: 
- Insider trading on Wall Street 
- Influence-peddling by public officials
- Performance-enhancing drugs in professional and amateur sports
- Even schools manipulating test scores

Too many people seem drawn to "short cuts" or "quick fixes," willing to compromise their moral standards or give in to pressure in a quest for power, money, or immediate success.  Sadly, and belatedly, they come to understand that any achievement generated by these compromises is short-lived or an illusion.

Don't give in to those pressures.   Have the inner moral strength to do what is right. even when those around you make other choices.  Your reputation will be slowly built but quickly destroyed.  That's not to say that you won't make mistakes along the way - we are all imperfect.  But there is a dramatic difference between a mistake and a criminal act.  One is a learning experience, while the other is a potential career-ending act.

Your life will be filled with complication. Careers and relationships will reach points where you will be faced with hard choices.  The path you choose may be lonely and difficult.  Power, profit, temptation and a host of other factors may come to bear, trying to move you to a different path. Don't let those pressures drive you from the path that you have chosen or shake your belief in what's right.

Find something you can be passionate about and take an active role.  Don't let the fear of failure, or the criticism of others, force you off the path you have chosen.  It is also important to remember that there is more to a successful life than the amount of money you make, the position you hold, or the office you sit in.

Find a way to contribute and serve:  Share your talents, share your voice and share your ideas with the world.  Do not be a spectator to the events happening around you. 

Find a way to share your love:  Love your family, love your community and love your faith.  There will be no more powerful influence in your life, and faith and love will always guide you to do the right thing.

Your parents, along with the faculty and staff here at Valley Forge Academy, have done their best to prepare you for the future - they have given you the tools and knowledge to succeed.  The future that lies before you is unknown, but your choices are clear. 

We live in a wonderful country - a place where opportunity abounds. But we also live in challenging times - facing enemies from afar. and threats from within.  Hostile nations, and the forces of terror, see us as a threat - and they are correct.  Freedom will always be a threat to tyranny. At times, we can also be our own worst enemy -- Graft and corruption, the poison of self-interest, drug abuse and the senseless waste of violence in our communities.

We need strong leaders in all of our institutions: From Washington to Bagdad, from Wall Street to Main Street, our government, our military, our businesses and our communities need people with faith, conviction and the courage to lead the way.

Decades from now, perhaps as you attend a graduation like this one, watching your children make this transition from youth to adulthood, I am certain that you will be able to look back on your life's journey with pride, knowing that you made the right choices and knowing that you used your talents well.  

Let me share one final quote with you, from President Dwight D. Eisenhower:

The history of free men is never really written by chance, but by choice -  their choice!

Do not leave your future to CHANCE - make a CHOICE to succeed.

Good luck, and may God  bless you and watch over you along the way.