Well, shucks, even IF it was meant for another thread, sure hope ya got those ole knee-hi's back on. (sorry, I could NOT resist)
Well, it's like this. The cadets don't get their hats back. Since they are graduating they don't need them anymore. Very young children are allowed to come onto the graduation field just before the cadets toss the hats. The tradition is that if the child catches a hat then they will end up coming to West Point. That does actually happen.