Adam Paulson Snyder

West Point, 2004

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Zach Thomas on December 18, 2007:

Thursday, December 13, 2007 My Friend Adam Snyder In memory of Captain Adam Snyder, Born November 18, 1981 Fort Pierce, Florida; died December 5, 2007 in Balad, Iraq. Here's the Eulogy I wrote for Adam's Memorial Service (December 13, 2007): I am convinced that everyone in this church would get up here and say great things about Adam, the fact that he chose me to do this, humbles me and is absolutely the greatest honor I have ever received. I hope to honor him as I share with you what God put on my heart. I met Adam in 2004 after he graduated from West Point. I was still on active duty when I started teaching the Singles and College Sunday School class at Morningside Baptist in Columbus, GA. Adam showed up at Morningside and ended up in my Sunday school class. We instantly connected because of our Alma Mater, West Point. My wife and I would invite Adam over for dinner after church on Sundays and let him do his laundry. We talked about everything from girls, the Army, Ranger School (was a big topic before he went because I was an instructor there), his aspirations after the Army, and most importantly his relationship with Jesus Christ. I have no doubt in my mind or heart that Adam is hanging out with his maker right now. Adam was truly a man of God. Throughout his tenure at Fort Benning in the Infantry Officer’s Basic course and Ranger School, we got to be really close. I was trying to think of something funny to tell you that honored Adam because you know if you ever got any pictures from Adam or if you knew him for more than 5 minutes, you will definitely agree that Adam had a great sense of humor. One of the funniest things I remember was when Adam was in Ranger School, he showed up in my office one day – which was a big surprise – he was supposed to be in the Mountains in Dahlonega. I remember saying “Dude, what are you doing here?” His response was something to the effect of “I’m getting messed over.” (censored version) He had been accused of an accidental discharge with his weapon (AD). I asked him “did you do it?” He said “No, absolutely not” That was enough for me, I didn’t need to ask him again. I knew Adam well enough to know that he was a man of integrity and that if he said he didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it. I told him to go back to the barracks before he gets in more trouble and I walked straight into the Battalion Commander’s office and told him that I was going to got see the Brigade Commander reference a Ranger Student that had been accused of something he didn’t do. My Battalion Commander didn’t want me to do this, but I told him that nothing was going to stop me. After speaking with the BDE CDR, he asked me how sure I was of this Lieutenant’s character and integrity, and I told him I was willing to put my rank on the line. He agreed to have Adam take a polygraph to determine if he was lying. So here’s the funny part . . . Adam told me afterwards that the interrogating agent questioning him asked if he had ever done anything bad. Adam’s response was yes, McDonalds gave me an extra hamburger in my bag once and I didn’t pay for it. Adam said the agent got really angry and tried to intimidate him into telling some other things he had lied about or done wrong. The conclusion was that they were able to determine that Adam had never lied about anything and the only bad thing Adam had ever done was not pay for a hamburger that McDonald’s accidentally gave him. I tell you this story because it testifies to the kind of person Adam was. I wish the only bad thing I have ever done was take a hamburger from McDonalds. Adam was truly a man of integrity. Needless to say, Adam went on to graduate from Ranger School and shortly thereafter moved to Fort Campbell, KY. I knew that God wanted us to stay connected when Adam called me up and told me that he was assigned to 1st Platoon, A Company, 1-327th Infantry Regiment, my old platoon. What were the odds of that? He called me often, asking for advice, but Adam always knew the answer. He thought I was mentoring him, but I think he had a much greater impact on me than I did on him. I admired his leadership. Adam was a truly Leader. After his PL time, he had a short assignment as the S-1 and was selected by the Battalion Commander to be the Scout Platoon Leader, of Tiger Force. God obviously did not want our close relationship to end. I too had been the Tiger Force PL in 2000-2001. Story after story, Adam would tell me about his men, always putting them first. I was humbled by his commitment and dedication to them. Adam was committed to his men, he had a huge heart for them. I remember our last conversation in person was in September just before he deployed. He would always stop at our house and stay over on his way home from visiting down here in Florida. Our first daughter, Louci, now three years old, loved Adam. His name was one of the first she could pronounce after Mommy and Daddy. She called him ANAM. As I watched him interact with Louci, I thought he would make a great father one day. Adam was caring and compassionate and he knew how to love.

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