New Delhi: Around 30 US cadets were injured during a grand pillow fight at West Point, a ritual that marks the end of summer training programme. A few cadets suffered injuries like a broken leg or dislocated shoulder while many fell unconscious at the brawl.
West Point is the centre where some of the bravest US military men were trained. This publically funded centre has been carrying on this tradition since 1897, which is supposed to let off steam after months of rigorous training.
The late night event took place on 20th August and images from the fight started doing the rounds of social media. However, the West Point team did not address it until it was reported in the New York Times today.
According to the report, the video of the fights shows few cadets yelling, clad in body armours and helmets gushing towards each other. Supposedly, the pillows were stuffed with heavy material like helmet which caused these injuries.
The NYT quoted the centre chief Lt Col Christopher Kasker, "West Point applauds the cadets' desire to build esprit and regrets the injuries to our cadets. We are conducting appropriate investigations into the causes of the injuries."
In 2012, a cadet had stuffed a pillow with lockbox which injured few of his batch mates. Even in the wake of this incident which shows pillows and cadets' faces soaked in blood, the training centre has no plans to abort this tradition.
