Thirty cadets who just completed their first-year summer training at the prestigious US Military Academy were injured when an annual pillow fight tradition turned bloody.
The brawl left 24 young cadets with concussions, the West Point military academy said, after reports that some stuffed their pillows with hard objects. A total of 30 cadets were injured, and students reported that the list of wounds included one broken leg as well as dislocated shoulders.
The yearly right of passage is meant to foster class spirit and celebrate the first-year “plebe” class’s completion of its rigorous summer training.
However, the August 20 pillow fight took a turn for the worse when some cadets reportedly stuffed the helmets they were encouraged to wear during the fracas inside their pillow cases.