Troop celebrates Sacenti's West Point acceptance

Date: 5/26/2009

By Laura Christiansen

Staff Intern



On June 7 at noon, East Longmeadow Boy Scout Troop 275 will be hosting an event at the Norcross House in celebration of Eagle Scout Greg Sacenti's acceptance to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Sacenti plans to enter West Point as a freshman, or plebe, in the fall. He endured quite a difficult journey before he was accepted at West Point.

Sacenti graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 2007. The two-year break he took between high school and college was not planned.

"I applied late to West Point [during my senior year]. They got back to me a few weeks later saying they want me, but have accepted more kids they can take. They offered for me to go to a military prep school in Alabama called Marion Military Institute (MMI)," Sacenti said.

West Point told Sacenti that if he successfully completed a year at MMI he would be accepted into the academy the following year. Sacenti was at MMI from August 2007 to May 2008.

Shortly after receiving his first acceptance at West Point, Sacenti began to experience a serious health issue.

"My left knee started swelling dangerously. I couldn't put any weight on it. We found out that I had Lyme arthritis, a form of Lyme disease, in my left knee," Sacenti said.

Sacenti believes he was disqualified for the class of 2012 because he wouldn't have been able to participate in cadet basic training.

"For seven weeks we would be waking up at 5 a.m. for physical training. It includes climbing rock walls, jumping out of helicopters and other activities that aren't normally seen on a college campus. They had to give me the medical disqualification because if I couldn't participate in cadet basic training I would be useless to them," Sacenti said.

West Point was required to issue Sacenti a medical disqualification for the class of 2012. After the disqualification, Sacenti enrolled in the ROTC program at Western New England College (WNEC) and applied for West Point, once again, to be a freshman in the fall.

Sacenti believes that the two years he had between high school and West Point were very beneficial. Some of the credits from WNEC will be transferred to West Point if he achieves a B- or better, thus lightening his course load for his freshman year.

"I'm glad I had the two years even though the break wasn't planned. I am a little wiser and older now. If I had gone when I was 17, I would have been a tiny kid that had no clue about what he was doing," Sacenti said.

Troop 275 is hosting the celebration at the Norcross House in Sacenti's honor. All of the proceeds will go to benefit the troop.

"They're going to use some of the proceeds for a big trip to New Mexico. It's a trip where they stay for a week and do a lot of activities outdoors. The cost is about $2000 per person," Sacenti said.

According to Don Heenan, a friend of Sacenti, the event will have several guest speakers and food prepared by the Boy Scouts.

"They're making your basic picnic food; hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken. [It's] nothing [too] extravagant," Heenan said.

Tickets are $15 and will be sold at the door. The event will be from noon to dusk.