An awards ceremony set to honor Tom Hanks, a longtime veteran advocate, has been canceled by the West Point alumni group, the same day President Donald Trump renamed the Department of Defense to the Department of War. The Oscar winner would have been honored with the Sylvanus Thayer Award, which the West Point Association of Graduates gives to non-alumni who "draw wholesome comparison to the military academy's motto: "Duty, Honor, Country." However, a letter from the president and CEO of the organization, sent to alum, claimed it was a decision that would allow "the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army". Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger announced the news in an email to the members; the Washington Post saw a copy of the email and first reported the news.
Tom was the national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial Campaign, which was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 29, 2004, the honorary chairperson of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign, and served as campaign chair of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Heroes Campaign. In 2006 he was inducted as an honorary member of the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame for his portrayal of a captain in the movie Saving Private Ryan.
In 2023, the actor founded Hanx for the Troops, a non-profit coffee company that supports veterans and their families with a portion of profits and initiatives. He has also donated to the campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, and once said that if President Trump won a second term (he went on to win in 2024) that it would prove that America's "journey to a more perfect union has missteps in it".
The decision came hours after the president signed an executive order to rebrand the Department of Defence. Pete Hegseth, who can now use the title War Secretary, as well as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs, General Dan 'Razin' Caine, stood alongside the President as he signed the order. "It has to do with winning," said Trump, explaining his decision. "We should have won every war. We could have won every war. But we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey, and we just fight forever."
HELLO! contacted reps for Tom for comment.
"We just fight to sort of tie," Trump alleged, speaking of the armed forces of the United States. "We never wanted to win wars. Every one of them we could have won easily with just a couple of little changes. We just didn't fight to win. We didn't lose anything, but we didn't fight to win."
The department was originally called the War Department but the name was changed in 1947 by President Harry Truman when he merged the Navy, Air Force and War Departments.
His appearance came days after rumors exploded on the internet alleging that the President had passed away over the Labor Day weekend. The President's weekend schedule had been cleared of all events, which raised eyebrows when compounded with recent health issues.
He blamed the "fake news" for spreading the rumor, despite it rising from social media rather than from traditional news outlets. Days before, the hashtags "Trump Is Dead" and "Where Is Trump" were trending on X.