Martin Maher West Point,The Long Gray Line
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Martin Maher West Point,The Long Gray Line:In 1898 at the U.S. Military Academy, a young captain named John J. Pershing swore in an even younger new recruit, Pvt. Martin Maher. Maher, who had arrived in his new country just two years before from Ireland’s County Tipperary, was as new to West Point then as each year’s new cadets, or “plebes.” After over three decades encountering plebes and upperclassmen, Maher would earn a place in the hearts of countless graduates and, through his memoirs, a place in the memory of countless filmgoers.
Soon after his enlistment, Maher was assigned to the West Point gymnasium. He claimed he couldn’t swim a stroke, but as the Department of Physical Training’s swimming instructor from 1899 to 1928, he made sure that each and every cadet could.
