Long Gray Line Hosts Over 100 Founders Day Events This Year Across the Globe
By Erika Norton, WPAOG Senior Multimedia Journalist
At 106 years old, COL (R) Herb Stern ’41, West Point’s Oldest Living Graduate, continues to embody the spirit of the Long Gray Line. On March 10, 2025, he gathered with over 100 fellow graduates and guests at his retirement home in Virginia to celebrate Founders Day—a tradition that bridges generations and honors a legacy more than two centuries in the making. WPAOG President and CEO Mark Bieger ’91 served as the youngest graduate of the event.
Since its first observance in 1902, Founders Day has become more than a commemoration of the day Thomas Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act on March 16, 1802, solidifying the U.S. Military Academy’s place as an academic institution. Founders Day is a reaffirmation of the values that have shaped countless leaders: Duty, Honor, Country.
Across the globe, West Point graduates gather each year to celebrate this shared legacy. But at Falcons Landing in Potomac Falls, the 223rd anniversary took on deeper meaning in the presence of a man who lived through much of that history.
As is tradition, the oldest and youngest graduates present were honored and given the opportunity to speak.

Fellow Old Grad Gerry Galloway ’57 introduced Stern and shared his many accomplishments over the years with attendees, including fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, attending the French War College, l’Ecole Superieur de Guerre in Paris, serving in Vietnam with French soldiers during the early part of the war, supporting the effort to restore regular Army commissions for West Point graduates, and serving on a classified project for President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1915).
“It was great being with all those Young Grads,” Stern said.
As the youngest graduate at the event, Bieger shared with the crowd some of the recent accomplishments of the Corps of Cadets, from the four Rhodes Scholars both this year and last year, to the Army football team winning the most games in history. According to Bieger, Founders Day provides grads the opportunity to celebrate not only their shared experience as cadets, but their shared connection to each other, an opportunity no other institution provides in the way that West Point does.
It was his honor to celebrate this special day with Stern.
“Gripping hands with COL Stern, our Oldest Graduate, surrounded by other graduates and their families, was a very special experience—and even more impactful as we gathered during Founders Day to celebrate our Alma Mater,” Bieger said. “His words, presence and service to our Nation are an inspiration for all of us, and he is truly a living example of Duty, Honor and Country.”
From Pittsburgh to Paris, there are 114 Founders Day events around the world and across the Long Gray Line this year, with 80 events attended by WPAOG Representatives. Hundreds of Cadet Candidates and their families are also attending, as well as Distinguished Graduate and Nininger Award recipients, making this a Founders Day season to remember.
Check out our Founders Day resources and event calendar.