On June 24, 2016, my son, Thomas Surdyke, member of USMA Class of 2019, made a conscious choice which ended in the ultimate sacrifice. Instead of swimming to safety when caught in a rip current on a Southampton beach, he stayed and fought to keep afloat a non-swimmer. Tom’s Soldier’s Medal citation, presented posthumously by LTG Robert Caslen states, “Before becoming overcome by exhaustion, Cadet Surdyke managed to push the civilian up, enabling a bystander on a paddle board to pull him out of the water, thereby saving the civilian’s life.” Tom, in one year as a plebe, fully internalized the code of “Duty, Honor, and Country”. He tried to live by this code not just in his final act, but in every aspect of his life and conduct.The mission of the Cadet Thomas Surdyke Foundation is to inspire and develop young leaders of character. The Foundation is providing a character and leadership curriculum to local high schools, supporting Boys and Girls State, funding military development, providing scholarships and is gifting a significant percentage of fundraising to the United States Military Academy. Respectfully, |
Six months ago, CTS announced Jim Hillebrand as the winner of our tribute Harley-Davidson, Black Ops II. The motorcycle, originally designed as a statement of patriotism by Tim Surdyke and his crew at Surdyke Harley-Davison, developed into a memorial tribute honoring recent fallen West Point cadets, including Tim's son, Tom. This past January, Black Ops II was delivered to its new home.
That home is not in winner Jim Hillebrand's garage. As fate and destiny would have it, Jim is a 1969 graduate of the United States Military Academy - West Point. Tom Surdyke's 50 year affiliate class. Graduates of West Point, going back over 200 years, are known as The Long Grey Line. There continues a tradition at West Point, within the Long Grey Line, linking 50 year affiliate classes as mentors for incoming cadets. Jim Hillebrand's Class of 1969 is linked with Tom Surdyke's Class of 2019. The Long Grey Line continues.
Mr. Hillibrand, when notified that he had won the drawing, immediately began processing the idea of donating the Harley back to West Point. This is not a simple process, but one which has culminated in its delivery on January 31, 2019 to West Point, where it was unloaded in front of the Superintendent's home and McArthur Barracks, where Tom had lived while a cadet.
The motorcycle will be temporarily housed inside the barracks in the Company B 4th Regiment area. Tom was, and is forever, a member of the B-4 Buffaloes. There it will serve as inspiration to Tom's friends and classmates within the company until the graduation of the Class of 2019 on May 25, 2019.
A permanent home for the motorcycle will be built in a place where both cadets and the public can view and be inspired by Tom's heroic story of service and sacrifice. The motorcycle will also be used on occasion as it was on its first trip to West Point in October 2016, when LTG Caslen lead the West Point football team onto the field to start the game.
The motorcycle will also be used on occasion like it was on its first trip to West Point in October 2016, when LTG Caslen lead the West Point football team onto the field to start the game.
The arrival of the motorcycle at West Point marks a milestone in moving the mission of the Cadet Thomas Surdyke Memorial Foundation forward: "To inspire and develop young leaders of character."
