Plain and simple men and women risk their lives every day so we can live our lives in comfort. You don’t know who they are. You don’t know what they do. It might be a simple job like changing a lightbulb on a cell tower. They might be testing a plane that you’re going to sit in and wait for your beverage service and peanuts. They might be making sure there is gas to go inside of your minivan. They are the unsung heroes of this American dream. 

My grandparents fought fascism. My dad’s generation and all of my uncles fought communism. My brother has fought human trafficking, gangs, drug smugglers, now works tirelessly as a bomb tech. I have 15 years in the special operations community. I have worked as a firefighter, an EMT, in law-enforcement and corrections during college. It wasn’t until I came to Texas that I saw a new kind of selflessness and realized how vast this community of servants really was. I was driving through Midland and I came across some roughnecks. They were working 18 hour days six days a week. Tanned and rough from the sun. Their hands and arms were scarred, bones throughout their body broken, and livers that had been put to the test. They work like this to survive but they are essential for the American way of life. 

The Ford F150 truck is the best selling vehicle in the nation. It isn’t exactly a gas saver. It needs to have its oil and fuel. These guys keep this country moving. They are in a small community of men and women doing dangerous jobs to keep this country comfortable. Sometimes there is an associated hazard pay compensating them for the risks that they take. I wanted to understand these courageous men and women. This is their journey. This is me trying to grasp why they are essential and why they are so damn Hard To Kill.