Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Wed 05/28/2025 View Tue 05/27/2025 View Mon 05/26/2025 View Sun 05/25/2025 View Sat 05/24/2025 View Fri 05/23/2025 View Thu 05/22/2025
2018-06-20 -Land of the Free
West Point graduate with 'Communism will win' message splits with Army after getting other-than-honorable discharge
[AOL.com] The West Point graduate who became known as the "commie cadet" is out of the Army after an other-than-honorable discharge.

Spenser Rapone's split from the armed forces comes less than a year after pro-communism and socialism selfies surfaced from his 2016 graduation ceremony. One featured the inside of his cap with the words, "Communism will win," while another included a shirt with a picture of socialist icon Che Guevara.

He said he kept the selfies to himself until September, when he tweeted them in support of Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback known for kneeling for the national anthem.

Another tweet Monday showed Rapone extending a middle finger at a sign at the entrance to Fort Drum, the New York military base where top brass accepted his resignation.

Rapone, 26, had been slapped with a reprimand for "conduct unbecoming of an officer" after an investigation found that he went online to advocate for a socialist revolution. The probe also alleged that Rapone belittled high-ranking officers.

"I consider myself a revolutionary socialist," he told The Associated Press. "I would encourage all soldiers who have a conscience to lay down their arms and join me and so many others who are willing to stop serving the agents of imperialism and join us in a revolutionary movement."

His transition to communism grew out of his experiences as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan before he was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy, he said. His study of history at the academy also impacted his thinking.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, had called on the Army to send Rapone packing.

"While in uniform, Spenser Rapone advocated for communism and political violence, and expressed support and sympathy for enemies of the United States," Rubio said Monday. "I'm glad to see that they have given him an 'other-than-honorable' discharge."
Posted by 746 2018-06-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11127 views ]  Top

#1 Going to put a collection on the cost incurred for the education?
Posted by Procopius2k 2018-06-20 06:57||   2018-06-20 06:57|| Front Page Top

#2 Not exactly. More like Rapone will do a GoFundMe and walk away rich.
Posted by M. Murcek 2018-06-20 08:50||   2018-06-20 08:50|| Front Page Top

11:07 HeavyG
11:07 Angstrom
11:06 DarthVader
11:05 HeavyG
10:58 alanc
09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com