The West Point Association of Graduates announced on June 11 that movie actor Tom Hanks would receive this year’s Sylvanus Thayer Award at a ceremony and parade this month hosted by the U.S. Military Academy. The award goes “to an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point’s motto: ‘Duty, Honor, Country.'”

On Sept. 6, the alumni group canceled the event.

In its original announcement, the alumni group called out Hanks’ positive portrayals of American service members. He starred as real-life hero Navy Capt. James Lovell in “Apollo 13” and fictional hero Army Capt. John Miller in the World War II epic “Saving Private Ryan.” He won the 1995 best actor Oscar playing the m

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