“We’re all confronted at some point in our lives by a question of courage,” said Greitens, who first crossed paths with Surdyke when he spoke at the Missouri Boys State leadership program two years ago. “Now we have to ask, what will we do for Tom?”

A portrait of a smiling Surdyke in his cadet uniform sat at the front of the room. Bikers took turns guarding the entrance with flags in a salute. The sounds of teary sniffling echoed around as everyone watched a video of military officers turning the folded American flag at Surdyke’s casket.

Surdyke was buried with full military honors at West Point, where he had attended school for the past year. President Barack Obama conferred him the Soldier’s Medal for heroism earlier this month.

At Friday’s service, Surdyke’s father walked slowly up to the podium, set down his water bottle at his feet, and paused for four seconds, looking at the ground. “Ok, so you know there’s no way I’m going to get all the way through this without falling apart,” Tim Surdyke said to the audience.