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west point cadet

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At least 30 cadets have been injured in a pillow fight at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The cadets were marking the end of summer training.

At least 24 cadets were reported to have been left unconscious because pillows were stuffed with hard objects.

One cadet suffered a broken nose, while others had dislocated shoulders.

West Point academy said the fight was designed to build “espirit de corps”. None of the injuries was severe and all cadets have returned to duty, it said.West Point cadets pillow fight

Details of the injuries sustained in August emerged in The New York Times, which reported that video of the fight posted online shows crowds of yelling cadets, some wearing body armor as well as helmets, surging together in a central quad.

Although pictures of the August 20 brawl have been circulated on social media, West Point did not confirm it took place until recently.

The annual night-time event has been described as a harmless way of blowing off steam at the end of a grueling summer of training.

However, this year’s event seems to have been a little over-exuberant, with pillow cases reported to have been stuffed with hard objects, thought to have been helmets.

West Point superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen said in a statement: “While these spirit events do occur, we never condone any activity that results in intentional harm to a teammate.

“Although the vast majority of the class appears to have maintained the spirit of the event; it is apparent that a few did not.”

Military police were investigating the incident and would take appropriate action when the inquiry was complete, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen added.

There are no plans to end the annual pillow fight, which has taken place since at least 1897.

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Holly Petraeus, wife of disgraced ex-CIA chief David Petraeus, can hardly imagine a life outside the military as she counts four generations of servicemen, “my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, husband, brother”.

Their son, Stephen Petraeus, 25, is in the army too.

Daughter Anne Petraeus, 29, teaches English overseas.

“I am privileged to have two extraordinary men — my husband and my father — in my life,” Holly Petraeus, now 59, said during an interview in 2009.

Her father, the late Army Gen. William A. Knowlton, was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy when Holly met David Petraeus on a blind date in the fall of their senior year.

Holly Knowlton was a French and English major at Dickinson College. David Petraeus was a West Point cadet.

“He had no idea the blind date was with <<the boss’ daughter>> until it was too late to get out of it!” Holly Petraeus said.

Holly and David Petraeus married in 1974, two months after he graduated at the top of his class

Holly and David Petraeus married in 1974, two months after he graduated at the top of his class

Holly and David Petraeus married in 1974, two months after he graduated at the top of his class. For nearly 38 years, Holly Petraeus has been holding down the home front as her husband climbed the ranks.

Asked for adjectives that best describe her, Holly Petraeus supplies two: self-sufficient and reliable.

“I’ve never lived more than four years in one place,” she said.

Holly Petraeus has moved many times and lived multiple times in Washington, but never gets rid of books. She favors biographies. She has been reading about Islam and the Middle East, but has not been to Iraq.