Albright to receive West Point award for service

The former secretary of state fled Czechoslovakia after Nazis gained control and spent much of WWII in England

WEST POINT, New York — Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will receive the U.S. Military Academy’s annual Thayer Award on Thursday, joining other citizens whose service to the nation illustrates the academy’s motto of “Duty, Honor, Country.”

The academy’s announcement of the award, named for former West Point Superintendent Col. Sylvanus Thayer, describes Albright as a leader on policy and international affairs.

Albright, who served under President Bill Clinton, was the first woman to hold the nation’s top diplomatic post.

Albright will receive the award at the Hudson River academy during a dinner ceremony hosted by West Point’s Association of Graduates. Before the dinner, cadets will conduct a review in her honor on the grassy expanse at the center of the academy known as the Plain.

Past recipients of the Thayer Award include Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell.

Albright served as secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 during Clinton’s second term. She had previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Albright was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937 and was forced to leave after Nazi Germany gained control of it. She spent much of World War II in England.