His story, in a nut shell:

"Larry Gibson has lived on Kayford Mountain in West Virginia all his life. The property he owns, a few acres with several small buildings and the family cemetery, is the only green spot in an otherwise desolate landscape. He refuses to sell his property to a company and leave his home, though his land has rich beds of coal beneath it. This refusal comes at a cost. Miners, told that Gibson’s decision not to sell is an attempt to put them out of work, have shot at his home (visitors can see the bullet holes), and set fire to another building. Two of his dogs were killed, and he was run off the road in his truck. The stress of living in these conditions has taken its toll on his marriage; still, he won’t give in, saying, “If I stopped fighting for the land maybe we’d have a chance. But this is my heritage. How can I walk away from that?""

http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/larry-gibson

n/t

His life mattered. And the fact that his life had ended matters.