2018
opposed to trying to figure out, how can I get away with not doing something? I didn’t drink, and I didn’t smoke, so there weren’t any of those incidents of sneaking off to have a beer,” he added. Anderson was a soloist in the Cadet
Glee Club at West Point and Protestant Chapel Choir. He was so good at what he did, he got to sing solos at some of the biggest venues for concert music, such as the Ed Sullivan television variety show, the Bell Telephone Hour on radio, and Carnegie Hall. Initially, Anderson also played college football, but given the choice of having a knee operation or dropping football during his sophomore spring classes, he didn’t sweat the loss of being on the bench. Not just a singer and all-round
athlete, Anderson was also engaged in social activism. He traveled to Uganda in East Africa as part of Operation Crossroads Africa, a cross-cultural exchange program supported by West Point and established by Dr. James H. Robinson, who foresaw a “clear, honest, hard-hitting program” in which young North Americans would work at the grassroots level with young Africans.
My Greatest Challenge The popular cadet was so busy
exploring and enhancing extracurricular activities that one of his classmates observed wryly, “Joe Anderson never had a bad experience at West Point. Joe Anderson was never here.” “At the Academy, you don’t get
weekends off to run to New York or anything like that,” Anderson said in his own defense. “So I joined the clubs and campus associations and I managed that pretty doggone well.” A little too well, perhaps. In the summer of ’64, shortly after
returning from a two-month Crossroads trip, Anderson found out from West Point academic officers that because he had missed a critical training program, he had lost his chance for appointment to rank and coveted leadership assignment during his senior year. “Of all my experiences, that was the most disappointing,” Anderson said ruefully.
Looking back, he saw an institution 56 USBE&IT | CONFERENCE ISSUE 2018
AWARD WINNERS
still struggling with diversity. “There was some discomfort with Blacks in leadership positions,” Anderson said. “For example, there were no Black officers on the staff or faculty. Thanks to the secretaries and non- commissioned officers who played a big part in mentoring and supporting young cadets.” Ironically, after graduating from
West Point with a bachelor’s degree in math and engineering, Anderson would
Joseph B. Anderson Jr. ’65 received the 2016 Distinguished Graduate Award from the United States Military Academy.
The Distinguished Graduate Award is given to graduates whose character, distinguished service, and stature draw wholesome comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives, in keeping with its motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.”
return as an assistant social sciences professor at West Point after earning master’s degrees in political science and in African studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. As he progressed, he went on to
become one of the era’s fast track, well-trained, and highly-motivated black officers in the U.S. Armed Forces and was consistently promoted ahead of his contemporaries.
But in the early ’60s, as Blacks across America organized marches,
boycotts, and leaflet campaigns against police brutality and systemic racism, the cadet was told he couldn’t afford to drop out of school or sit in at segregated lunch counters. For sure he never had it half as bad
as previous Black cadets in the 1940s, who faced isolation, racist graffiti, and dirty protests, but he had to dig deep to find a reason for being at an isolated military academy preparing for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army. He found that reason from mentors
like retired Maj. Gen Fred Davidson, one of the first African-American officers to achieve two-star rank in the modern-day Army.
“They convinced me that my contribution was in the military. There were plenty of people marching and doing sit-ins,” Anderson said. Almost 50 years later, Joseph B.
Anderson Jr. ’65 received the 2016 Distinguished Graduate Award from the United States Military Academy. The Distinguished Graduate Award
is given to graduates whose character, distinguished service, and stature draw wholesome comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives, in keeping with its motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.” Factors to be considered in selecting individuals as distinguished graduates include accomplishments, contributions to the greater good, and other actions that favorably reflect the principles upon which West Point was founded as well as the excellence, spirit, integrity, and character that it seeks to ingrain in graduates. Anderson’s citation read: As an Army officer, business
leader, and WPAOG volunteer, Joseph B. “Joe” Anderson has inculcated, personified, and radiated West Point’s values. Anderson first came to “fame” as a platoon leader in Vietnam when he was featured in the 1967 documentary The Anderson Platoon, which won an Emmy and the Oscar for Best Documentary Film. Then, after stints in the Department of Social Sciences at USMA and as a White House Fellow, he started a 13-year business career at General Motors, rising to become
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