Bush to spotlight growing role of Merchant Marine

It is a U.S. service academy situated outside New York City. Its graduates have fought and died in all corners of the world, and, since Sept. 11, have played a key role in bolstering homeland security. Not West Point — Kings Point. Not the Army or Marines — the Merchant Marine. Even though some midshipmen acknowledge their school is “the redheaded stepchild of the service academies,” they are hoping that begins to change today when George W. Bush becomes the first U.S. president to address a graduating class of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.