For Oak Harbor High School senior and three-sport athlete Caleb Fitzgerald, the dream of attending the United States Military Academy at West Point began when he was 6 years old. That dream is now a reality as Fitzgerald learned Jan. 22 that he has been accepted to attend the prestigious institution.

“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “It’s a fulfillment of a lot of hard work.”

Going to the academy is also a family tradition. His father Tyler and older brother Jacob are West Point graduates.

Unlike his brother, who didn’t decide until high school that he wanted to attend school at West Point, Caleb Fitzgerald knew it from a young age.

“As I was growing up, I learned what it was all about,” he said.

Book lesson

And although Tyler Fitzgerald is a West Point grad, he didn’t push Caleb in that direction.

“It is very much his own path; it is his choice,” Tyler Fitzgerald said. “When he was little he read a book, ‘Carlisle Versus Army,’ and loved it and developed a love for West Point.”

The book, subtitled “Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle,” is about a game between two college football powers in 1912. Carlisle Indian School was coached by the legendary Warner and featured the talented Thorpe. Eisenhower led Army.

Tyler Fitzgerald’s passion for sports also rubbed off on Caleb.

“I really loved playing sports,” Tyler Fitzgerald said. “I encouraged our kids to try them as well.”

Caleb was bitten by the sports bug early, according to his father. When Caleb was about 6, the family, just back after living overseas for several years, was driving through Miami and saw a billboard advertising one of the city’s football teams.

“Can I play football?” Caleb asked, according to Tyler Fitzgerald. Caleb has been playing since.

Caleb’s high school football career ended last fall after earning three varsity letters. He was the Wildcats’ starting quarterback last season and received all-league honorable mention. He is also a three-year letterman and honorable mention choice in baseball.

His best sport is wrestling, in which he will earn four letters.

This weekend, after winning the 126-pound title in the subregional tournament, Fitzgerald is competing in the state tournament.

He qualified for state last year but did not place. His goal this time is to finish among the top four; he went into the tournament ranked fifth by the Washington Wrestling Report.

He said he might try wrestling at the academy.

“I’ve had the most success in wrestling,” he said. “It’s the sport that I feel the most comfortable competing in.”

Academic star

Involvement in activities is important to receive an appointment to a service academy, but academic success is paramount.

Caleb Fitzgerald and his siblings were home-schooled by their mother, Anna Fitzgerald.

The family moved often because of Tyler Fitzgerald’s army career, and the family believed home-schooling would result in a more consistent education, according to Caleb.

“We take home schooling very seriously,” Tyler Fitzgerald said.

That education led to the USMA appointments for Jacob and Caleb and earned sister Elizabeth a spot in the honors program at Azusa Pacific University.

Home schooling also allowed the Fitzgeralds to emphasis their faith in the educational process.

“Faith is a big part of our lives,” Caleb said. “Who God is and his path for me is important.”

Work ethic

Caleb said Jacob is his role model: “He is a very hard worker, and I wanted to emulate that.”

That work ethic is evident to those around Caleb.

“He is a good, hard-working kid,” Tyler Fitzgerald said. “His mother and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Oak Harbor High School wrestling coach Larry Falcon called Caleb a “hard worker who has all the goods.”

The United States Military Academy wants to make young men into leaders. It won’t have to do much to fit Caleb into that mold.

“He’s a strong, quiet leader,” Falcon said. “He leads by example; he leads by doing the right thing.”

Oak Harbor High School football coach Jay Turner said, “One word describes Caleb, ‘leader.’ Everyone respects him and follows his lead. In my 20-plus years of coaching, I have only coached a couple of kids with his kind of leadership ability.”

Caleb is grateful that Oak Harbor High School allowed him to be part of its athletic program.

“A lot of schools are not acceptive to home-schooled kids,” he said. “The high school is very welcoming.”

He noted that JoAnn Wichers (athletic department secretary), Nicki Luper (former athletic director) and Jerrod Fleury (current athletic director) made the transition easy.

“Oak Harbor High School has a really good sports program, and I tried to take advantage of that as much as possible.”

Soon Fitzgerald will be heading to West Point to take advantage of what it has to offer.

“Serving our country is our highest calling and something I always wanted to do.”

Caleb Fitzgerald earned all-Wesco honorable mention for his play for the Wildcat baseball team last season. (Photo by John Fisken)