The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has canceled a high-profile award ceremony honoring Tom Hanks, abruptly halting plans to recognize the Concord native and two-time Oscar winner with one of the institution’s most prestigious awards.
The 69-year-old East Bay native was scheduled to receive the Sylvanus Thayer Award on Sept. 25. The honor is given annually to an “outstanding citizen” whose service and achievements reflect West Point’s ideals of “Duty, Honor, Country.” Past recipients have included presidents, cabinet secretaries and diplomats.
But in an email to faculty on Friday, Sept. 5, retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, president and chief executive of the West Point Association of Graduates, announced that the event “will not be held as originally scheduled.”…