Jefferson County – Senator Paul Wieland is pleased to announce that Governor Eric Greitens will be signing Senate Bill 322 at 6:30 p.m. on June 29. Senate Bill 322 designates the “USMA Cadet Thomas M. Surdyke Memorial Highway”
During a one-week break between air assault and cadet field training, Cadet Surdyke was vacationing at a beach on Long Island, New York, on June 24, 2016, when he and a civilian he’d met only that day got pulled out to sea in a riptide. Without regard for his own safety, Cadet Surdyke immediately grabbed the civilian and physically assisted in keeping the civilian’s head above water until help could arrive. 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.
Within a couple minutes of Cadet Surdyke being incapacitated, onlookers managed to pull him out of the water. A couple minutes later, emergency workers arrived to take the cadet to the hospital.
He was kept alive on a ventilator before passing on June 28, 2016. Cadet Surdyke continued to serve others by donating his organs, which will save additional lives. A native of Festus and a graduate of St. Pius X, Cadet Surdyke was an Eagle Scout and a football player, and had recently completed his first year at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was one of four children and the only son of Tim and Janice Surdyke.
Senate Bill 322 also designates the Sherman Brown Jr. Memorial Highway”, the “Mary Groves Bland Memorial Bridge”, the “Edward F. Dixon The Third Memorial Highway”, the “Lyndon Ebker Memorial Bridge”, and the “Roger “Dusty” Shaw Memorial Bridge”.
Governor Eric Greitens will be signing Senate Bill 322 at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 29 at St. Pius X High School – 1030 St. Pius Dr., Festus, MO 63028.