<p>From the "Kings Pointer" 1999:</p>
<p>BYRNE AND HEWITT GET DEGREES
Two Kings Point attendees received honorary degrees at the 1999
graduation. Don Hewitt, Executive Producer of 60 Minutes reported
for basic training in late 1942. In early 1943, when his sea year
ships North Atlantic convoy came under attack by German submarines,
he prayed for rescue because I sure as hell didnt want to
freeze to death on a lifeboat. Id already done that (during lifeboat
drills) at Kings Point. Ronald Byrne, Jr., a retired Air Force colonel
who attended the Academy in the late 40s was an Air Force pilot,
shot down in 1965 and held prisoner by the North Vietnamese until
1973. He told graduates that the most important thing he learned at
Kings Point was that a man is capable of more than he imagines he
is capable of. Admiral Stewart announced the founding of a faculty
chair named for Byrne in ethics, morals and leadership by J. Smith
Lanier 50. Hewitt was given Honorary Alumnus status by the Alumni
Chairman, Reggie Hayden 60. Byrne, by virtue of his longevity
at the Academy, was already a qualified alumnus.</p>