Ben Carson and West Point

[BmorePat87]

I'm not sure if anyone followed this, but Ben Carson has mentioned many times how he was offered a full scholarship to West Point but turned it down. Politico began to dig into this and found that Carson never applied to West Point nor was he ever offered entrance into West Point.

In his book, Gifted Hands, Carson said

Quote:Sgt. Hunt introduced me to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point. I didn’t refuse the scholarship outright, but I let them know that a military career wasn’t where I saw myself going.

Politico used Army records to show that General Westmoreland was not in Detroit when Carson claimed he was. They also contacted West Point and found out that Carson never applied to the school nor was he offered entrance.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/ben-carson-west-point-215598

the Washington Post points out that the story should have never made sense as you do not get scholarships to West Point, your tuition is covered because of your subsequent service to the country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/11/06/why-ben-carsons-west-point-scholarship-claim-made-no-sense-from-the-beginning/

Now, it is possible that a young Ben Carson did not realize this and was told "your costs will be covered". That's understandable. To any 17 year old, this might sound like a full ride. His campaign is now saying that he was told by his commander that he could get in if he applied since he was a top ROTC member in Detroit. Again, it's reasonable to think that a 17 year old understands this as "if I applied, I'd get in".


Is this a big deal?