COVER FEATURE - MAY 2008
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
TRUCKER HONORS AMERICA'S FALLEN HEROES
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor
Some might say that Sean McEndree was lucky. His combat wounds did not kill him. But he doesn’t see it that way. Sean considers himself a soldier first, a trucker second. When he was sent home to Texas after sustaining nearly life-ending injuries in Iraq, he was lost. His true career had been taken away by an insurgent’s IED. He went back into trucking, but it just wasn’t the same. He felt that he could – and should – do more for the ones who weren’t lucky enough to make it home. So he decided to build a rolling memorial for America’s fallen heroes, and he dedicated the truck to his fallen friend Sgt. Barry K. Meza.
Sean was born in Kentucky and raised in Iowa. At about the age of 14, Sean drove a truck for the first time – it was a White cabover with two sticks. After graduating from high school, he went into the Army and really learned how to drive a truck. After eight years, he got out and started trucking as a company driver. He drove OTR for various companies for several years until the war in Iraq began. Feeling like he needed to be there to help, he reenlisted in late 2003.
After being deployed to Iraq in February of 2004, Sean was nearly killed just two months into his tour on April 9th when the convoy he was traveling in was attacked by insurgents. Sean, being a part of the Army’s 13th Corps Support Command of the 96th Transportation Company, 180th Transportation Battalion, stopped the truck he was driving and began to get into a defensive position. As he stepped away from his truck, a planted improvised explosive device (IED), disguised as a Pepsi can lying in the road, was detonated. Sean was blown 30 feet into a ditch. When he tried to stand up to fight back, he was shot in the shoulder. Sean laid in that ditch, bleeding and playing dead, until an MP found him and dragged him into a humvee.
Once Sean was stabilized, he was flown back to the states for emergency surgery that saved his life. But his recovery would not be easy, as his injuries caused him to lose part of his right lung and liver, his gall bladder, three feet of his large intestine and part of his diaphragm. Sean still has some shrapnel embedded in his chest and right leg. But he considers himself lucky. Sean’s buddy Sgt. Barry K. Meza was not so lucky. After helping Sean recover back home in Texas, he was re-deployed to Iraq where he was killed in action just a few weeks later on December 19, 2004.
Some of you out there might not think that the war in Iraq is a worthy cause. Some may have thought that it was worthwhile in the beginning, but over time, lost hope and changed their mind. When we met Sean at the truck show in Dallas, Texas in August 2005, we, like many Americans at that time, were beginning to fall into the latter category. While talking to Sean, we asked him if we were fighting a worthwhile cause and if the people wanted us there. We figured who better to ask than someone that was there – someone who nearly lost his life fighting for this cause. His answers would shape our long-term opinion of the war and the cause.
Without even a moment of hesitation, Sean replied, “I would go back in a heartbeat.” He told us that an overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people want us there, and that we were doing the right thing. As he told us a few stories, he fought to hold the tears back. This man was obviously deeply saddened that he could not be there to fulfill his mission as a soldier. Forget what you’ve seen on television, heard on the radio or read online – here was a combat-wounded soldier that wanted more than anything to go back and continue fighting the good fight. This spoke volumes to us – and it should to you, too, for our freedoms have never come without a price.
Shortly after that show in Dallas, Sean’s life took another turn. At the time, he was hauling cattle under his new company name, Veterans Express, and had a black Peterbilt called “Fallen Heroes” to commemorate his fallen friend Sgt. Barry K. Meza. On the back of the sleeper, Sean put “Roll Call” and began adding the names of every soldier killed in Iraq. Things were going great until one day, while loading some cattle, a steer got loose and trampled Sean, breaking his leg, dislocating his hip and bruising his lung. “If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any at all,” remarked Sean. He also joked about how the Iraqis got his right side and the cow got his left side. Not being able to work, Sean was forced to give that truck up.
After taking time off and recuperating, Sean ended up back in a truck. He bounced around for a while and then landed at Oklahoma City-based Freymiller. He liked the family atmosphere, so he stuck around. After a few months, he got involved in their lease/purchase program and bought the company truck he had been driving – a stock 2005 Peterbilt 379 painted Electric Blue. The 265-inch long truck was equipped with a 475 Cat C-15, a 13-speed transmission, 3:36 rears and low-pro rubber. Sean’s wife Diane, sensing that her husband wanted to do something special with the truck but was gun-shy, took it upon herself to start making some phone calls. She began by contacting some military-related organizations and private companies, and pretty soon some donations came in. From there, the first phase of Sean’s truck began to take shape, and “Fallen Heroes 2” (the truck pictured here) was born.
Sean’s truck spent five weeks at 4-State Trucks in Joplin, MO getting “tricked” by the Chrome Shop Mafia boyz. Painter extraordinaire Ryan “Ryno” Templeton spent a lot of time on the mural, working painstakingly to ensure that every detail was correct. Even the flags that he painted on the side of the sleeper are shown at half-staff, to commemorate the soldiers that never made it home (the stacks represent the flagpoles). Besides the mural, the truck got extra lights, dual 359-style headlights on Double JJ brackets, blinker bars on the front and back, extra long quarter fenders and 8-inch stacks. From there, Sean took the truck to the SuperRigs show in Joplin where it was well-received, and then to Walcott, Iowa for their annual Jamboree. At that show, he met some people from ICT, who offered to give his sleeper a full makeover.
In August of 2007, the truck went to ICT in Indiana for a complete interior renovation. They began by tearing the entire guts of the sleeper out, taking it all the way back to just bare walls, and then revamping everything from there. A sink was installed, as well as wood cabinets, a flat screen television, an entertainment center, and a new bed, complete with a quilt that was handmade by the ladies at ICT. An American flag, crafted out of pieces of red, white and blue leather, were stitched together to create a unique “patriotic” back wall. They also installed a wood floor in both the cab and sleeper, but they were not finished yet. They also installed a set of WTI double-hump fiberglass fenders and a stainless steel deck plate. The truck was really looking awesome, but, as his “luck” would have it, there was yet another incident.
Just a few weeks before the Louisville truck show, Sean was taking a break in a turnout in New Mexico when a distracted driver (paying too much attention to Sean’s truck and not enough to where he was going) drove over Sean’s hood. There was no time to waste, as Sean’s truck was scheduled to be in ICT’s booth at the show, so he quickly called Dave Jones at Truk-Rodz and got a custom fiberglass hood and fenders. He also had to get a new bumper, so while he was at it, he went ahead and installed a rear light bar. At least some good came from this last misfortune. Now the truck was really looking good – again!
A lot had changed in Sean’s life since we had first met him in Dallas back in 2005. He had a new truck, a new job and a new baby boy (Sean Jr.) who had just turned two years old, but his attitudes and opinions had not changed a bit. We sat down to talk the night before our photo shoot, and again, with the war still raging, we picked this soldier’s brain for insights that we, as civilians, might not know or understand. “The media is always showing soldiers kicking down doors, but what they don’t show is that after we kick in some doors and root out the troublemakers, we rebuild and restore the area,” said Sean. “We always left things better than the way we found them.” He told us how they (the soldiers) would provide the people with clothing, shelter, food and protection, and often, give toys to the children.
When asked if the Iraqis would ever be able to take care of themselves, his answer was simple. “Eventually,” he said. “Democracy is an entirely new concept to these people and we should not expect them to learn and change their ways overnight.” If any of you out there are against the war or the cause, we urge you to speak to a soldier or a veteran – your opinions and attitudes might change after you listen to their heart.
We were lucky enough to get permission to take our pictures inside the beautiful site of the 114-acre Los Angeles National Cemetery where over 87,000 soldiers and their family members have been laid to rest. Nestled in the middle of Los Angeles, CA this historical cemetery was dedicated in 1889 and has many notable persons buried within its gates, including several soldiers that fought in the Civil War. Our thanks go out to Cynthia Nunez for all her help – we could not have imagined a more perfect location to take pictures of this memorial truck.
Not surprising, one more “twist” occurred shortly after our photo shoot and just before this edition went to press. Preparing for a custody battle with a previous wife for his 8-year-old twin boys, Sean was advised by his attorney that it would be in his best interests to “get off the road” for a while and stay near home. Sean has now taken a recruiting position at Freymiller and another veteran will be driving the truck, but Sean will still get to take it to the truck shows. We wish Sean all the luck at getting custody of his boys, and hope he can get back where he belongs, on the road, as soon as possible.
So, on this Memorial Day, please take time to remember all of the Americans who died for the freedoms we enjoy – including the freedom to be complacent, to complain and to whine. Not everyone in the world has the luxury of these freedoms. Please do not take your freedoms for granted, and if you see a soldier out there, take the time to shake their hand and thank them for their service. Without them, and those that have gone before them, we would not have this great country and we would not be free. That insurgent’s IED may have taken Sean’s military career away, but it certainly did not take away his ability to continue fighting the good fight – here at home – where it is most needed.