Daniel Brian Hyde

West Point, 2007

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Adam Nordin on May 27, 2019:

Dan, This weekend I had the rare opportunity to visit some of my family and extended family to gather for the wedding of one of my cousins in Rochester, NY - about a 7 hour drive from where I now live with my wife in Newport, RI. The drive gave me some quality time to sit and reflect on my own life, and think about those who have impacted me in so many ways, but are no longer with me. This weekend, I found out about the loss of someone I recently served with - he was killed with 2 of his children in a car accident driving to his next duty station while his wife and youngest child awaited their arrival. Life is so fragile, so delicate, and can be so tragic - yet, we sometimes forget to stop and realize what's most important. I thought about the collection of experiences I've had in the time since I last saw you. The integral of the non-symmetrical, imperfect stream of life that can never be reversed or changed. In that area of space, I have been so fortunate to live, and I am most fortunate to have known you. People like you gave those like me the opportunity to fill that space with life - and all of the good and bad that comes with it. I still hold that photo of Ranger School graduation as one of my most treasured pieces - we were so young, impossibly over-confident, and ready to take on anything. I'm a major now. Can you imagine? Back then, I would have thought the current me was old and past his prime. We could hardly imagine what we'd look like or be like after 12 years of service. I want you to know, though, I'm still crushin' it with the best of them. And when I find myself getting beaten down, your memory helps me pick myself up because, if nothing else, I owe it to you to keep pushing on. Dan - I recently experienced a fast succession of a setback followed by incredible redemption, but it didn't come easy. I spent nearly 8 months preparing for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and managed to succeed. While competing, I thought more than once that I might not make it. In those lowest of low points, I thought of you - thought that I owed it to you to push harder, that you would probably have been there pushing through the pain, and that you'd remind me there's no room for accepting defeat. I know I'll never have the chance to talk with you again on this Earth, but I know that you are not gone. Your memory lives in my heart - in my soul - and that keeps you alive forever. It is quite remarkable a human you were, that your very memory could inspire and motivate another who is now 10 years older than you. -Adam

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