
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994                   TAG: 9403020176
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

GOODLATTE BILL HONORS BLACK CADET ASSAULTED AT WEST POINT IN 1876

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, has introduced a bill granting a posthumous Army commission to Johnson C. Whittaker, one of the first black cadets at West Point.

Whittaker's story of abuse and prejudice became the basis for a recent cable television movie, "Assault at West Point," which Goodlatte watched being filmed.

Whittaker, a student at West Point in 1876, was brutally beaten by three hooded students one night before exams. Left for dead, Whittaker survived, only to be court-martialed by West Point.

Administrators claimed that Whittaker inflicted the wounds on himself and then tied himself up to miss a philosophy exam the following morning.

Goodlatte, who visited Lexington and Staunton during the movie's filming late last summer, said he felt he could not ignore the injustice done to Whittaker.

Goodlatte's bill, introduced this week, awards Whittaker a commission of second lieutenant in the Army.

A similar bill introduced by Sen. Ernest Hollings, R-S.C., passed the Senate last month. Goodlatte's office said it will be a month or more before his legislation is acted on in the House of Representatives.

by CNB