# West Point Pillow Fight Turns Ugly **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2015, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152 "2015-09-06T08:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/1 "2015-09-06T08:24:16Z")
[At West Point Military Academy’s annual pillow fight](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/us/at-west-point-annual-pillow-fight-becomes-weaponized.html?mabReward=A6&moduleDetail=recommendations-0&action=click&contentCollection=Television®ion=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article) things got a little out of hand, it seems. The students got the bright idea to take the protective helmets off their heads…_and stuff them into their pillows!_ Thirty concussions, split lips, dislocated shoulders, a broken leg and numerous other souvenirs of their experience as incoming freshmen. Were the upperclassmen appalled at this behavior? Not exactly. > [@](#): > > “My plebe was knocked unconscious and immediately began fighting when he came to,” an unnamed upperclassman, who was apparently observing from the sidelines, wrote on the social media forum Yik Yak. “I was so proud I could cry.” ``` :smack: ``` ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/2 "2015-09-06T18:18:44Z")
I may be the only person on the SDMB to say this but ------ TERRIFIC! Innovative escalation of violence in even a mock combat situation is just what I want to see from our future officers in training. And acceptance of the results of said escalation isn’t a bad thing for those further along the journey. I say find out who first came up with the idea and give them their gold bar now! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/3 "2015-09-06T21:08:38Z")
Bot, in all those movies pillow fights in the sororitiess look sexy and everything. Trust guys to screw that all up. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/4 "2015-09-06T22:03:29Z")
Is the USMA liable for injuries? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/5 "2015-09-06T22:52:02Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I may be the only person on the SDMB to say this but ------ TERRIFIC! Innovative escalation of violence in even a mock combat situation is just what I want to see from our future officers in training. And acceptance of the results of said escalation isn’t a bad thing for those further along the journey. I say find out who first came up with the idea and give them their gold bar now! Psh, just let them fight it out with automatic weapons. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/6 "2015-09-06T23:00:22Z")
Let’s put this differently, shall we? “Large group of adult soldiers let fun get out of hand.” There, that’s better isn’t it? I’m a little bit sick of all the hand-holding being offered to college students these days. They are 18 years old. Full adulthood, folks. Crime on campus should be treated just like every other crime. Safety concerns should be addressed just as they would be in any office park or retail district. Especially at a Military Academy though. They are there to learn how to kill people, and to use, maintain, and strategically deploy weapons of war. For heaven’s sake, let them be grown-ups! And let them suffer the consequences when they break laws or harm others. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Is the USMA liable for injuries? Well, remember, the American Military has socialized medicine, so no problem there. After all,[at least they don’t go to Princeton!](http://twentytwowords.com/3-princeton-sophomores-pose-after-a-brutal-rock-laced-snowball-fight-1893/) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/7 "2015-09-06T23:23:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Psh, just let them fight it out with automatic weapons. Congress would never let them/us/whoever get away with it. But somewhere in there may be the seed of a good idea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/8 "2015-09-06T23:42:51Z")
All it takes to stop a good guy with a gun is … um, wait a minute here … ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/9 "2015-09-07T00:23:02Z")
OK, by exactly how many years does this male-dominated pillow fight predate DADT? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/10 "2015-09-07T01:10:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Bot, in all those movies pillow fights in the sororitiess look sexy and everything. Trust guys to screw that all up. Yeah, but it’s Different. There will NEVER be any girls on ladders going _ka-chunk_ _ka-chunck_ _ka-chunk_ trying to get over to the next window. John Belushi, RIP ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/11 "2015-09-07T02:04:33Z")
**OneCentStamp** assording to the article this has been going on since 1897. Run this by me again… these are our future elite career officers? And they are proud that the safety equipment was misused and the game resulted in injuries to their own troops that may potentially put them out of action? Oy. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/12 "2015-09-07T10:06:13Z")
Since I had visions of this being yet another dumb-stuff-with-guns-turns-tragic thread, I’m venturing to suggest that it’s all gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/13 "2015-09-07T12:18:35Z")
The fighters “changed the conditions of the test”. When Kirk did that he got two citations, one a reprimand and the other a commendation for original thinking. I agree that these are adults, let them take whatever consequences arise. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/14 "2015-09-07T14:25:44Z")
There’s pillow fights then there’s Army pillow fights. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > **OneCentStamp** assording to the article this has been going on since 1897. > > Run this by me again… these are our future elite career officers? And they are proud that the safety equipment was misused and the game resulted in injuries to their own troops that may potentially put them out of action? > > Oy. Who is they? One person quoted an upper classman (meaning a slightly older college student not yet in the army). Is that the “they” you are talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/15 "2015-09-10T03:02:27Z")
I now have a vision I can’t shake. The Normandy beaches on D-Day, with Allied servicemen embroiled in a huge pillow fight with the Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-point-pillow-fight-turns-ugly/730152/16 "2015-09-10T04:31:42Z")
I for one and truly disappointed and stand firm in my resolve that violence and the future officers of the United State Army do not go well together. Leave that shit to the enlisted men and women.