ray:
You honored us all with Dan's story. Thank you.casmith07;3962657 said:1LT Daniel Brian Hyde, US Military Academy Class of 2007, is a friend of mine.
In 2003, I entered the US Military Academy at West Point as a 17-year-old kid without any idea of what I was getting myself into. My father, a career Army Officer himself, had some knowledge of what basic training was like in the Army and assured me that everything was a mind game, and that as long as I played the game I would be fine. Oh, how I would find out that it was so much more than that.
That next year, Dan was in my Plebe Year company, Charlie Co, 3rd Regiment (also known as the "Third Reich" for it's higher standards and difficulty for underclassmen compared to the other three Regiments). This did not faze Dan. Dan took it in stride and when asked to recite countless bits of Plebe Knowledge, or asked to take on additional duties, he would do them with a smile on his face and with a sense of diligence and duty that I had never seen in another person aside from my father. How do I know this? Because one of Dan's additional duties was to help a struggling 4th Class Cadet with remembering and reciting different bits of knowledge - Cadet Private Collin Smith. Because of Dan - taking his own personal time when he could have been calling his girlfriend, or his family, or studying his own knowledge or his own academics - I was able to get the assistance I needed from a person that had a natural quality of leadership wired to his heart. The only thing that he asked me for help with was shining his shoes
Now, it wasn't all military junk -- we had fun too. Dan was the quarterback on my intramural football team. I was his RB, and I played CB as well. We were a pretty decent team, since Dan had a cannon for an arm and was one of the few intramural quarterbacks that could actually read a defense, since he was a 4-year starter in high school in Modesto, California. When those pass plays were called, and I wasn't out on a route, you had better believe I was working my *** off to block blitzers or linemen that made it through to make sure nobody sacked my quarterback. When a run play was called, and Dan would tell me to "hit 'em in the mouth, C" I would run with a purpose - someone was getting bulldozed, and it wasn't going to be me. I will never forget the game we were playing against a pretty good team, and Dan came into the huddle with the play, down three scores, and said "alright guys, we're down but we're not out - <play called> - let's do this, we can win this thing." There is not a man in that huddle, from the most senior cadet to the lowest of the low, that did not believe him when he said that. Dan Hyde was a leader.
Dan moved on to the 4th Regiment and I to the 2nd after that year. We stayed in touch, hung out from time to time, and checked in on each other to make sure everything was going okay. Because he was such a superstar Cadet as a Plebe, Dan eventually rose to become the Cadet Commander of the 4th Regiment, essentially the second highest position for a Cadet in the Corps of Cadets behind the First Captain. His leadership was not a sham.
* * *
On 6 March 2009, 1LT Daniel Hyde's convoy was ambushed in Tikrit, Iraq between two Iraqi Police checkpoints. Insurgents met the convoy of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles with RPGs & small arms fire. However, the most important attack came from an enemy combatant carrying an RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. For those unfamiliar with this weapon, the RKG-3 is one of the few weapons capable of piercing the armor of an MRAP. Dan was in that truck.
A day later on 7 March 2009 in Samarra, Iraq Dan succumbed to the wounds from the attack and moved on to a better place. I received a call that day, essentially a few hours after Dan had passed away, most likely before even his family was notified. I attribute that to the strength of the Long Gray Line and the passion that many West Point graduates share for one another. Many people ask me why the 1st of May this year was the second happiest day of my life when I learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The reason is because 7 March 2009 was the saddest day of my life. With bin Laden's death, I finally felt that Dan was not lost in vain.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure you all know a family member of one of my fallen Brothers & Sisters. If you never do anything else for me, please take the time to pick up the phone and give them a call, however short, to tell them thank you for the service that their fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine gave.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. If not, at least take the time to look at someone who I consider a hero. A man who, even as a peer, I would follow to the Gates of Hell and back if he asked me, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Rest In Peace, Dan. I miss you and I love you, buddy.
casmith07;3962657 said:1LT Daniel Brian Hyde, US Military Academy Class of 2007, is a friend of mine.
In 2003, I entered the US Military Academy at West Point as a 17-year-old kid without any idea of what I was getting myself into. My father, a career Army Officer himself, had some knowledge of what basic training was like in the Army and assured me that everything was a mind game, and that as long as I played the game I would be fine. Oh, how I would find out that it was so much more than that.
That next year, Dan was in my Plebe Year company, Charlie Co, 3rd Regiment (also known as the "Third Reich" for it's higher standards and difficulty for underclassmen compared to the other three Regiments). This did not faze Dan. Dan took it in stride and when asked to recite countless bits of Plebe Knowledge, or asked to take on additional duties, he would do them with a smile on his face and with a sense of diligence and duty that I had never seen in another person aside from my father. How do I know this? Because one of Dan's additional duties was to help a struggling 4th Class Cadet with remembering and reciting different bits of knowledge - Cadet Private Collin Smith. Because of Dan - taking his own personal time when he could have been calling his girlfriend, or his family, or studying his own knowledge or his own academics - I was able to get the assistance I needed from a person that had a natural quality of leadership wired to his heart. The only thing that he asked me for help with was shining his shoes
Now, it wasn't all military junk -- we had fun too. Dan was the quarterback on my intramural football team. I was his RB, and I played CB as well. We were a pretty decent team, since Dan had a cannon for an arm and was one of the few intramural quarterbacks that could actually read a defense, since he was a 4-year starter in high school in Modesto, California. When those pass plays were called, and I wasn't out on a route, you had better believe I was working my *** off to block blitzers or linemen that made it through to make sure nobody sacked my quarterback. When a run play was called, and Dan would tell me to "hit 'em in the mouth, C" I would run with a purpose - someone was getting bulldozed, and it wasn't going to be me. I will never forget the game we were playing against a pretty good team, and Dan came into the huddle with the play, down three scores, and said "alright guys, we're down but we're not out - <play called> - let's do this, we can win this thing." There is not a man in that huddle, from the most senior cadet to the lowest of the low, that did not believe him when he said that. Dan Hyde was a leader.
Dan moved on to the 4th Regiment and I to the 2nd after that year. We stayed in touch, hung out from time to time, and checked in on each other to make sure everything was going okay. Because he was such a superstar Cadet as a Plebe, Dan eventually rose to become the Cadet Commander of the 4th Regiment, essentially the second highest position for a Cadet in the Corps of Cadets behind the First Captain. His leadership was not a sham.
* * *
On 6 March 2009, 1LT Daniel Hyde's convoy was ambushed in Tikrit, Iraq between two Iraqi Police checkpoints. Insurgents met the convoy of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles with RPGs & small arms fire. However, the most important attack came from an enemy combatant carrying an RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. For those unfamiliar with this weapon, the RKG-3 is one of the few weapons capable of piercing the armor of an MRAP. Dan was in that truck.
A day later on 7 March 2009 in Samarra, Iraq Dan succumbed to the wounds from the attack and moved on to a better place. I received a call that day, essentially a few hours after Dan had passed away, most likely before even his family was notified. I attribute that to the strength of the Long Gray Line and the passion that many West Point graduates share for one another. Many people ask me why the 1st of May this year was the second happiest day of my life when I learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The reason is because 7 March 2009 was the saddest day of my life. With bin Laden's death, I finally felt that Dan was not lost in vain.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure you all know a family member of one of my fallen Brothers & Sisters. If you never do anything else for me, please take the time to pick up the phone and give them a call, however short, to tell them thank you for the service that their fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine gave.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. If not, at least take the time to look at someone who I consider a hero. A man who, even as a peer, I would follow to the Gates of Hell and back if he asked me, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Rest In Peace, Dan. I miss you and I love you, buddy.
:clap2:Cajuncowboy;3962670 said:
casmith07;3962657 said:1LT Daniel Brian Hyde, US Military Academy Class of 2007, is a friend of mine.
In 2003, I entered the US Military Academy at West Point as a 17-year-old kid without any idea of what I was getting myself into. My father, a career Army Officer himself, had some knowledge of what basic training was like in the Army and assured me that everything was a mind game, and that as long as I played the game I would be fine. Oh, how I would find out that it was so much more than that.
That next year, Dan was in my Plebe Year company, Charlie Co, 3rd Regiment (also known as the "Third Reich" for it's higher standards and difficulty for underclassmen compared to the other three Regiments). This did not faze Dan. Dan took it in stride and when asked to recite countless bits of Plebe Knowledge, or asked to take on additional duties, he would do them with a smile on his face and with a sense of diligence and duty that I had never seen in another person aside from my father. How do I know this? Because one of Dan's additional duties was to help a struggling 4th Class Cadet with remembering and reciting different bits of knowledge - Cadet Private Collin Smith. Because of Dan - taking his own personal time when he could have been calling his girlfriend, or his family, or studying his own knowledge or his own academics - I was able to get the assistance I needed from a person that had a natural quality of leadership wired to his heart. The only thing that he asked me for help with was shining his shoes
Now, it wasn't all military junk -- we had fun too. Dan was the quarterback on my intramural football team. I was his RB, and I played CB as well. We were a pretty decent team, since Dan had a cannon for an arm and was one of the few intramural quarterbacks that could actually read a defense, since he was a 4-year starter in high school in Modesto, California. When those pass plays were called, and I wasn't out on a route, you had better believe I was working my *** off to block blitzers or linemen that made it through to make sure nobody sacked my quarterback. When a run play was called, and Dan would tell me to "hit 'em in the mouth, C" I would run with a purpose - someone was getting bulldozed, and it wasn't going to be me. I will never forget the game we were playing against a pretty good team, and Dan came into the huddle with the play, down three scores, and said "alright guys, we're down but we're not out - <play called> - let's do this, we can win this thing." There is not a man in that huddle, from the most senior cadet to the lowest of the low, that did not believe him when he said that. Dan Hyde was a leader.
Dan moved on to the 4th Regiment and I to the 2nd after that year. We stayed in touch, hung out from time to time, and checked in on each other to make sure everything was going okay. Because he was such a superstar Cadet as a Plebe, Dan eventually rose to become the Cadet Commander of the 4th Regiment, essentially the second highest position for a Cadet in the Corps of Cadets behind the First Captain. His leadership was not a sham.
* * *
On 6 March 2009, 1LT Daniel Hyde's convoy was ambushed in Tikrit, Iraq between two Iraqi Police checkpoints. Insurgents met the convoy of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles with RPGs & small arms fire. However, the most important attack came from an enemy combatant carrying an RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. For those unfamiliar with this weapon, the RKG-3 is one of the few weapons capable of piercing the armor of an MRAP. Dan was in that truck.
A day later on 7 March 2009 in Samarra, Iraq Dan succumbed to the wounds from the attack and moved on to a better place. I received a call that day, essentially a few hours after Dan had passed away, most likely before even his family was notified. I attribute that to the strength of the Long Gray Line and the passion that many West Point graduates share for one another. Many people ask me why the 1st of May this year was the second happiest day of my life when I learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The reason is because 7 March 2009 was the saddest day of my life. With bin Laden's death, I finally felt that Dan was not lost in vain.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure you all know a family member of one of my fallen Brothers & Sisters. If you never do anything else for me, please take the time to pick up the phone and give them a call, however short, to tell them thank you for the service that their fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine gave.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. If not, at least take the time to look at someone who I consider a hero. A man who, even as a peer, I would follow to the Gates of Hell and back if he asked me, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Rest In Peace, Dan. I miss you and I love you, buddy.
casmith07;3962657 said:1LT Daniel Brian Hyde, US Military Academy Class of 2007, is a friend of mine.
In 2003, I entered the US Military Academy at West Point as a 17-year-old kid without any idea of what I was getting myself into. My father, a career Army Officer himself, had some knowledge of what basic training was like in the Army and assured me that everything was a mind game, and that as long as I played the game I would be fine. Oh, how I would find out that it was so much more than that.
That next year, Dan was in my Plebe Year company, Charlie Co, 3rd Regiment (also known as the "Third Reich" for it's higher standards and difficulty for underclassmen compared to the other three Regiments). This did not faze Dan. Dan took it in stride and when asked to recite countless bits of Plebe Knowledge, or asked to take on additional duties, he would do them with a smile on his face and with a sense of diligence and duty that I had never seen in another person aside from my father. How do I know this? Because one of Dan's additional duties was to help a struggling 4th Class Cadet with remembering and reciting different bits of knowledge - Cadet Private Collin Smith. Because of Dan - taking his own personal time when he could have been calling his girlfriend, or his family, or studying his own knowledge or his own academics - I was able to get the assistance I needed from a person that had a natural quality of leadership wired to his heart. The only thing that he asked me for help with was shining his shoes
Now, it wasn't all military junk -- we had fun too. Dan was the quarterback on my intramural football team. I was his RB, and I played CB as well. We were a pretty decent team, since Dan had a cannon for an arm and was one of the few intramural quarterbacks that could actually read a defense, since he was a 4-year starter in high school in Modesto, California. When those pass plays were called, and I wasn't out on a route, you had better believe I was working my *** off to block blitzers or linemen that made it through to make sure nobody sacked my quarterback. When a run play was called, and Dan would tell me to "hit 'em in the mouth, C" I would run with a purpose - someone was getting bulldozed, and it wasn't going to be me. I will never forget the game we were playing against a pretty good team, and Dan came into the huddle with the play, down three scores, and said "alright guys, we're down but we're not out - <play called> - let's do this, we can win this thing." There is not a man in that huddle, from the most senior cadet to the lowest of the low, that did not believe him when he said that. Dan Hyde was a leader.
Dan moved on to the 4th Regiment and I to the 2nd after that year. We stayed in touch, hung out from time to time, and checked in on each other to make sure everything was going okay. Because he was such a superstar Cadet as a Plebe, Dan eventually rose to become the Cadet Commander of the 4th Regiment, essentially the second highest position for a Cadet in the Corps of Cadets behind the First Captain. His leadership was not a sham.
* * *
On 6 March 2009, 1LT Daniel Hyde's convoy was ambushed in Tikrit, Iraq between two Iraqi Police checkpoints. Insurgents met the convoy of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles with RPGs & small arms fire. However, the most important attack came from an enemy combatant carrying an RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. For those unfamiliar with this weapon, the RKG-3 is one of the few weapons capable of piercing the armor of an MRAP. Dan was in that truck.
A day later on 7 March 2009 in Samarra, Iraq Dan succumbed to the wounds from the attack and moved on to a better place. I received a call that day, essentially a few hours after Dan had passed away, most likely before even his family was notified. I attribute that to the strength of the Long Gray Line and the passion that many West Point graduates share for one another. Many people ask me why the 1st of May this year was the second happiest day of my life when I learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The reason is because 7 March 2009 was the saddest day of my life. With bin Laden's death, I finally felt that Dan was not lost in vain.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure you all know a family member of one of my fallen Brothers & Sisters. If you never do anything else for me, please take the time to pick up the phone and give them a call, however short, to tell them thank you for the service that their fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine gave.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. If not, at least take the time to look at someone who I consider a hero. A man who, even as a peer, I would follow to the Gates of Hell and back if he asked me, and I wouldn't bat an eye.
Rest In Peace, Dan. I miss you and I love you, buddy.
