I will never forget the absolute horror I felt when my boyfriend called me the morning of April 20, 2010 to tell me not to worry...that nobody I knew was involved. I had no idea what he was referring to because I was still getting ready for work and hadn't had a chance to check the news headlines of the day.
I, like many other people with loved ones that work in the oil and gas industry, have grown accustomed to the occasional industrial scare. (This is actually not true because you never ever really relax knowing how dangerous this industry can be.) I've panicked when helicopters have crashed, and I couldn't get in contact with him. I've gotten phone calls about how pipes got blown out of the hole. I read often about explosions, fires and crashes. It just comes with the territory, but never in my life did I ever think I would witness anything as horrific as the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent sinking.
Unfortunately for the victims and family members of the deceased, the eleven fatalities were overshadowed by the massive oil leak caused by the blowout which lead to the public passing of blame by the government, BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and the seafood and tourism industries along the Gulf Coast. OH, and let's not forget the deepwater drilling moratorium that ended just six months ago.
As angry as I was about everything that happened. I was more angry that the lives of those eleven men had been cut short due to negligence and greed and nobody really seemed to care. It was more interesting to watch billions of dollars worth of crude oil flow into the gulf from the 24 hour live feed from the sea floor. We watched to Tony Hayward cry about wanting his life back. We learned terms like "top hat," "junk kill," and "top kill." We were even outraged by the use of toxic dispersants.
But how often did we think about those eleven men that died that night?
I can still remember the night they showed pictures of the men on the news and my boyfriend was home. He knew some of those men. I remember the first time he flew out to do a job offshore...which happened to be a BP job, and he commented that all he could think about was that there were eleven people under him.
I'm going to dedicate this post to those eleven men. I pray that their souls have all found peace.
I, like many other people with loved ones that work in the oil and gas industry, have grown accustomed to the occasional industrial scare. (This is actually not true because you never ever really relax knowing how dangerous this industry can be.) I've panicked when helicopters have crashed, and I couldn't get in contact with him. I've gotten phone calls about how pipes got blown out of the hole. I read often about explosions, fires and crashes. It just comes with the territory, but never in my life did I ever think I would witness anything as horrific as the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent sinking.
Unfortunately for the victims and family members of the deceased, the eleven fatalities were overshadowed by the massive oil leak caused by the blowout which lead to the public passing of blame by the government, BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and the seafood and tourism industries along the Gulf Coast. OH, and let's not forget the deepwater drilling moratorium that ended just six months ago.
As angry as I was about everything that happened. I was more angry that the lives of those eleven men had been cut short due to negligence and greed and nobody really seemed to care. It was more interesting to watch billions of dollars worth of crude oil flow into the gulf from the 24 hour live feed from the sea floor. We watched to Tony Hayward cry about wanting his life back. We learned terms like "top hat," "junk kill," and "top kill." We were even outraged by the use of toxic dispersants.
But how often did we think about those eleven men that died that night?
I can still remember the night they showed pictures of the men on the news and my boyfriend was home. He knew some of those men. I remember the first time he flew out to do a job offshore...which happened to be a BP job, and he commented that all he could think about was that there were eleven people under him.
I'm going to dedicate this post to those eleven men. I pray that their souls have all found peace.
- Jason Christopher Anderson (1974-2010) - Bay City, TX; toolpusher
- Aaron Dale Burkeen (1972-2010) - Philadelphia, MS; crane operator
- Donald O'Neal Clark (1961-2010) - Newellton, LA; assistant driller
- Stephen Ray Curtis (1969-2010) - Georgetown, LA; assistant driller
- Gordon Lewis Jones (1981-2010) - Baton Rouge, LA; drilling fluids specialist IV
- Roy Wyatt Kemp (1983-2010) - Jonesville, LA; derrickhand
- Karl Dale Kleppinger, Jr. (1971-2010) - Natchez, MS; floorhand
- Keith Blair Manuel (1953-2010) - Gonzales, LA; sr. drilling fluids specialist
- Dewey Allen Revette (1961-2010) - State Line, MS; driller
- Shane Michael Roshto (1987-2010) - Liberty, MS; floorhand
- Adam T. Weise (1986-2010) - Yorktown, TX; floorhand
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