Q: What did getting into West Point mean?
PETILLO: Well, getting into West Point for Douglas provided him with the
opportunity to get on the fast track to success in the American Military. It
also provided him the opportunity for a free education, which was no small
thing for a family that didn't have a lot of money. But most of all, it
provided him with the one nugget of experience that his father hadn't had. His
father would have liked to have gone to West Point, and his grandfather tried
to persuade him to do so rather than join the military and fight at that point.
But he didn't have that opportunity. It didn't work out that way. And Douglas
would have the opportunity. And it would provide the polish that went with it
for the career that he and his family wanted him to have.
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