Photo By Eric Bartelt | Twenty-three cadets from the Class of 2024 graduated and commissioned into the Army...... read more read more
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – The word surreal came to mind for a couple of graduating cadets when describing the journey it took to get to graduation day. Class of 2024 Cadets Ye Jin Bae and Alexis Elizabeth-Viola James were joined by 21 other cadets during the U.S. Military Academy December Class of 2024 Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony on Dec. 20 at Eisenhower Hall Theatre.
There were a myriad of reasons why these 23 cadets ended up staying beyond the “47-month experience,” but once that diploma and second lieutenant bars were in hand, it didn’t matter any longer the struggle of how they got there, it was a testament of their intestinal fortitude to overcome their obstacles to become members of the Long Gray Line.
The ceremony included the graduation address and presentation of diplomas by USMA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland, the commissioning by Commandant Brig. Gen. Rogelio Garica and the presentation of the second lieutenant bars by two members of the USMA Class of 1974, the 50-year affiliate class of the Class of 2024.
However, before Bae, James and their classmates threw their hats into the theatre air to celebrate their accomplishment, the two females talked about the experience to get to that day.
Bae, a Baltimore native, began her journey as an enlisted Soldier, a combat medic, in 2016, and spent three years in the Army before going to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School. However, her West Point experience was complicated by a couple shoulder injuries and a death in the family.
“My stepfather passed away from a heart attack, and we own a small laundromat … and we couldn’t find any employees to help us (due to COVID),” Bae explained. “So, I took a break from summer (training) and a semester to help out with the family business.”
The transition back into the Corps of Cadets was tough for Bae, but she also admitted that while helping her family, she realized a lot about herself and how much she identifies with being a Soldier.
“What I learned from that time was the more I gave to people, the more I received,” Bae stated. “I learned so much about myself, then coming back I had so many mentors, friends and memories from the last two years.”
She had to deal with two shoulder surgeries after tearing the labrum in both shoulders from overuse, so nothing has come easy at the academy.
Bae, who will be Cyber officer, begins her Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) on March 24 and then will go to Fort Meade, Maryland, for her first assignment. She will be stationed with her husband, Jacob Turner, who graduated in May from West Point.
She was also getting married to Turner later in the day, so her day was full of excitement.
“It was difficult to fall asleep last night,” she said. “They told us to go to bed at 8 p.m. That did not happen.”
Bae was a member of the Cadet Glee Club, and said it took her awhile to understand the meaning of being a part of the Long Gray Line, but seeing the graduates get emotional at their events was a reminder of how special West Point can be.
“I would see old grads in tears when they see us singing the alma mater and other songs,” Bae said. “I am that person now singing the alma mater and tearing up. I know that I can call anyone from here, in the Corps and those who are already in the force, and they would answer my call and help me out – and I would do the same for any of them. That’s how meaningful this place means to me.”
James came to the academy from Laredo, Texas, which was one of the many cities or towns she grew up, but as she mentioned the word “surreal” of her experience here, she talked about graduating from West Point as a once in a lifetime experience.
“The prestige of being a West Point graduate is literally, Like None Before, our class motto,” James declared. “My parents sacrificed so much to get me here, and it means the world to me to graduate.”
Much like Bae, James was also getting married on graduation day, but the plot twist in her story is her husband, Metteo Danforth, is a Naval Academy 2022 graduate. They met in high school and stayed together through the separate journeys they were on.
When asked about being a member of the Long Gray Line, she replied with “I’m so proud to have been here. Just to be a member of the Long Gray Line, I truly don’t have words to describe it.”
What kept James at the academy beyond 47 months was her fear of the tower during survival swim in her yearling year.
“I went to the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow, New York, to practice stepping off the five-meter tower,” James explained. “I just had a fear of heights and had to overcome that.”
Her now husband was encouraging her to face that fear because in the Navy, they have to step off 10-meter towers, which is the height of a ship, she said.
“In the Army, we’re going to ask people to do uncomfortable things, things we might not necessarily want to do, but in order to give someone an order, you have to be willing to do it your yourself,” James stated. “That’s really the main lesson that I got out there and stepped off the tower. It’s also a control thing because I think the actual fear was not of stepping off, but what happens after and sometimes you just have to go full speed and not think about it.”
Because it is a graduation requirement, James was separated from the academy with the right to re-exam. She left the academy for a couple months, came back to step off the tower and do the rest of the survival swim test. She was admitted back into the academy after passing, which all happened the fall of 2023 and she returned for the spring semester in 2024.
For James, it was a lesson learned especially about facing your fears head on.
“My mom said it best, ‘You can feel the fear, but you have to do it anyway, so don’t let the fear define you,’” James said. “Fear is OK, you can have the feeling, but fear can actually make you strong when facing it.”
James is going to be a Chemical Corps officer, and will head to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for BOLC and then will be stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
She is excited about the next step in her career in joining the Chemical Corps.
“Honestly, the future of warfare is going to be a lot of disguising and maneuvering, and with the chemical aspect of bombs, the smells and radiation, that’s just a next level fight,” she concluded. “I want to be a part of that.”
To see more December graduation photos, go to Class of 2024 December Graduation | Flickr.
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2025 16:38 |
| Story ID: | 488939 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 2,110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, West Point graduates, commissions 23 Class of 2024 cadets during December Graduation ceremony, by Eric Bartelt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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