West Point cadets really wanted to make some noise ahead of the Army-Navy football game next month. Unfortunately, they misidentified their target goat and are now embarrassed for their failed mission. The cadets traveled this past weekend to a farm near Annapolis, Maryland, the home of Navy mascot Bill.
Since there were many goats with the same name, the cadets grabbed Navy mascot Bill No. 34, which was retired. They were supposed to grab Bill No. 37, the New York Times reported.
This past Monday, Bill No. 34 was returned safely.
“The U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy are disappointed by the trust that was broken recently between our brothers and sisters in arms. These actions do not reflect either academy’s core values of dignity and respect,” superintendents Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams and Vice Adm. Sean Buck said in a statement.
Taking each other’s mascots was once a long-time tradition and always viewed as a prank, but those actions had basically stopped since the early 1990s. Back in 2018, Army officials apologized to the Air Force Academy after a falcon was injured during a prank.
According to the Times, Army has taken a Bill mascot at least 10 times over the past 70 years.
The Army-Navy game is set for Dec. 11th.
