Excerpt from a letter written during basic training by one of Tommy's high school football teammates
Yesterday we went on an eight mile hike on the beach with a 65 pound pack. It was like walking in ankle deep snow. It was extremely challenging. Just as I was about to break mentally, the noise of the ocean went silent and I look to my right and see this beautiful orange and pink sunlight gleaming off the water. For some reason, Tommy Surdyke was the one that popped into my mind and I trekked along through the sand and the rest of the way I pushed through it knowing my friend and brother was right by my side motivating me and pushing me in spirit to continue. All of a sudden the pain I was in drifted away and I went and grabbed two of the people in our platoon who were falling out and helped them catch back up. Out of six platoons with ninety plus people each, we were the only platoon with zero fallouts! Tommy was with us out there, on the beach with me, and with all of us yesterday.
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