BY JANIE BLANKENSHIP

Part two of the three-partseries on dangerous/unique occupations.

VFW pays tribute

to the war veterans who

have spent their lives

working in darkness

so that the rest of

the nation could

continue living in light.

Above: Seabee vet and memberof Post 1144 in Iaeger, W.Va.,Charlie Lambert has had hishands in coal for 33 years. While he kept a promise to his coal-mining father that he wouldn’t go underground,Lambert did work on a minerescue team and still works inthe coal preparation business.

28 • VFW • Apr i l 2010

s the memorial was dedicated inJuly 2009, members of Post 9640 inRichlands, Va., fired a salute and

solemnly played “Taps” in memory ofthe 1,200 names listed on the blackgranite wall.

VFW members were not honoringwar dead, but the casualties sustained inan industry vital to the nation’s energysecurity—coal mining.

“Like warriors of war, we feel we havea kinship with coal miners who sacri-ficed their lives providing an essentialservice to all Americans,” Post 9640Quartermaster Clyde Roberts said.

Not only do VFW members recog-nize the importance of this sector ofour economy, but they themselves work

in it, or have worked the mines, in largenumbers.

As the West Virginia Coal Miner stat-ue proudly proclaims, miners providethe nation “with low-cost reliable house-hold and industrial energy.”

Indeed, coal provides half the coun-try’s electric power. The U.S. is regardedas the “Saudi Arabia of Coal,” holding25% of the world’s supply. Hence coal’snickname,“Freedom Fuel.”

A certain mystique surrounds themen who work in the eeriness of theunderground. “That mystique is at-tached to the miners who are such apart of the nation’s consciousness andsoul,” reported ABC News.

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Apr i l 2010 • WWW.VFW.ORG • 29

5 Deadliest U.S. Mining Disasters Since WWIIDate Mine Location Dead Cause Dec 21, 1951 Orient No. 2 West Frankfort, Ill. 119 ExplosionFeb 26, 1972 Saunders Buffalo Creek, W.Va. 114 FloodMar 25, 1947 Centralia No. 5 Centralia, Ill. 111 ExplosionMay 2, 1972 Sunshine (Silver) Kellogg, Idaho 91 FireNov 20, 1968 Consol No. 9 Farmington, W.Va. 78 ExplosionSource: “Mining Disasters,” National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

Captivating a NationWhile safety measures andtechnology have vastly im-proved conditions for min-ers, tragedy still strikesoccasionally. And when itdoes, the nation seemsspellbound.

On Sept. 23, 2001, at theJim Walter Resources BlueCreek No. 5 Mine in Brook-wood, Ala., 13 miners werekilled as the result of twogas explosions.

And like a soldier whovows to never leave a fallencomrade on the battlefield,10 of the 13 Brookwoodvictims died because theyrefused to evacuate so thatthey could help co-workersleft stranded.

“He wasn’t going to leaveanybody,” said MichaelBoyd, whose brother,Clarence, was killed thatday. “He would have beenthe last one out.”

The No. 5 Coal Miner’sMemorial was dedicated onSept. 23, 2002, to those whowere killed. Jim Walter Re-sources spearheaded thiseffort. The company also

has a Web site tribute to its vets.Some four years later, on Jan. 2, 2006,

an explosion at the Sago Mine in WestVirginia made the front page of majornewspapers across the county. A capti-vated nation watched the news as res-cuers attempted to save 13 miners.

Forty hours later when rescuersreached the men, all but one had died.Preparing for their fate, they left hand-scrawled notes, such as, “Tell all I [will]see them on the other side,” and “It was-n’t bad. I just went to sleep.”

On May 21, 2009, the first completedsection of the Sago Mine Memorial wasunveiled in Philippi. Phase two will etchthe miner’s names into black granite.

Digging in the ‘Devil’s Backyard’So who are coal miners?

In a word, they are a tough breed,coarsened by the vagaries of life.

James Poniewozik once wrote inTime magazine that coal miners “harkback to Dickensian, even prehistorictimes, when making a living meantchancing death. Mining, however, is adifferent kind of danger [from war],and its disasters take us … out of ourtime. The men risk explosion orasphyxiation … to put food on thetable.

“What are coal miners? People whodescend into hell. People who dig intothe devil’s backyard, where nothinglives, and bring forth something thatburns as hot as Satan’s fire.”

After writer Jeanne Laskas spent timein the Ohio coal mines for an articlepublished in GQ, she said that with theexception of combat veterans she had“never been around people who knew

so many dead people.”VFW magazine traveled to West

Virginia’s McDowell County to find outmore about this unique occupation.That county has produced more coalthan any other in the state.

On a snowy January night, membersof Posts 1144 and 8413 gathered at theVeterans Center in Kimball, a few milesfrom Welch. They talked about howmuch has changed in mining, most for the better. Humorous stories wereshared about the numerous practicaljokes played underground to “lightenthe mood.”

One thing they didn’t talk muchabout were the dangers inside themountains.

“My grandfather died in the mines,my father died in the mines, and Ialmost died in the mines,” said HaroldFairbanks of Roderfield. “That’s just theway it is.”

The Army vet said the top fell inabout two seconds after he passed thecollapse point that day long ago. Hecandidly recalled another time when hehad to crawl 1,000 feet just to get tosome fresh air.

Although he is a third-generationminer, Fairbanks said he wasn’t havingthat life for his children.

“My boy dropped out of college and I told him he was not going into themines,” said Fairbanks, who served withthe 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Far East. “I drove him north to Beckleyand told him he could enlist in the Air Force.”

Like some of the others gatheredthere that night, Fairbanks, a member

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At left, the Nov. 20, 1968, explosion at the Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 Mine in Farmington, W.Va. The memorial (below left) honors the 78 men who died there.

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‘Dying for Democracy’National defense and coal mining areinextricably intertwined. During the CivilWar, coal was essential to the Union wareffort. In 1860, there were 36,500 coalminers in America, more than 80% ofthem working in Pennsylvania, and theywere in big demand.

Still, coal miners marched off to war,draining the industry of labor. Welsh,English and Scottish immigrant minersvolunteered for the Union Army in largenumbers. Coal miners from Frostburg,Md., for instance, spontaneously formedtheir own company. Not surprisingly,Pennsylvania supplied the preponder-ance of miner recruits for federal forces.

The 48th Pennsylvania InfantryRegiment, recruited in the mining regionof Schuylkill County and led by Lt. Col.Henry Pleasants (a mining engineer incivilian life), gained fame in the Battle ofthe Crater on July 30, 1864, during thesiege of Petersburg, Va. The miners duga 511-foot mine shaft under Confederatelines and planted explosive charges.Before it returned from the “fields ofblood” in 1865, the 48th had sustained156 KIA and 373 WIA. Three of its menearned the Medal of Honor.

Of course, mining for other preciousminerals such silver and gold also tookplace before and after the war. And itwas extremely hazardous work, butovershadowed by coal mine disasters tocome. Perhaps 7,500 miners died on theWestern mining frontier. In comparison,the regular Army recorded 929 KIA in thetrans-Mississippi West Indian campaignsafter the Civil War.

Death on the Battlefield and Home Front

By World War I, coal mining wasdeemed so valuable to defense that draftboards in West Virginia were ordered toexempt miners. Gen. John Pershing con-gratulated miners for “standing stead-fastly” in the battle against the GermanKaiser. Nevertheless, some 50,000 coalminers ignored their exemptions andenlisted—3,000 died in France and else-where.

Even so, West Virginia miners had adeath rate at home higher than that ofthe American Expeditionary Force over-seas. Some 404 of the state’s coal min-ers perished in explosions and accidentsin 1918. The Mine Workers Journal

declared that “these local boysdied in the interests of democ-racy, they were exerting theirmanpower in the production ofcoal with which to help win thewar.”

During WWII, 5,288 minersdied on the home front. In theyears of the Korean War (1950-53), another 1,976 fatalitiesoccurred in the coal mines.Over the course of the VietnamWar, 1,825 miners lost theirlives. And in those wars, WestVirginia servicemen had thefirst, second or third highestcasualty rates. The WestVirginia Veterans Memorial onthe state Capitol grounds inCharleston attests to its lossesin four 20th century wars with 10,877etched names.

West Virginia has the dubious distinc-tion of having the highest state hostiledeath rate in Vietnam: 84.1 per 100,000males compared to the national averageof 58.9. “If you were from Appalachia,you were 50% more likely to have beenkilled in Vietnam,” said Steven Giles,then the chief psychologist at the VAmedical center in Johnson City, Tenn.

Dr. Charles Walter, a clinical psycholo-gist there when the study was done inthe 1980s, said: “They chose to be incombat and they were chosen. Officerschose Appalachians for point men andfor patrols because they felt they weremotivated, more likely to be woods-wiseand more familiar with the use ofweapons.” Both psychologists attributedthis propensity to seek combat to the so-called “Sgt. York Syndrome.”

Remembering the SacrificesCoal mining today is infinitely safer thanin yesteryear. Only three coal minerdeaths occurred in West Virginia out of atotal of 18 nationwide in 2009. Prior tothe Great Depression, however, an aver-age of 2,295 miners was killed everyyear. On occasion, entire United MineWorkers locals were wiped out. Minedisasters were so commonplace that thepublic almost became numb to them(see the accompanying charts.)

In the single deadliest year in record-ed U.S. coal mining history in 1907,3,242 men died. That is the exact equiva-lent to the butcher’s bill paid byConfederate and Union troops at theBattle of Chancellorsville, or more than

the Doughboys suffered in the SommeOffensive in 1918.

Up until the end of WWII, minerdeaths were still topping 1,000 annually.But safety laws, especially since theFederal Coal Mine Health & Safety Act of1969, have made a tremendous differ-ence in saving lives. In the entire 25years between 1983 and 2008, 1,119miners died on the job. Only once duringthis period—in 1984 when 125 minersdied—did the fatality count even comeclose to exceeding 100.

Still, miners do not want their ances-tors’ sacrifices forgotten. Memorials tospecific mine disasters dot thelandscape throughout coal country,county courthouse lawns contain monu-ments and miner statues grace thegrounds of several state capitals. In2009, Virginia dedicated what is perhapsthe only state memorial with namesengraved on it to coal miners. But nonational tribute exists.

Though unsuccessful, the BooneCounty Historic Landmark Commissionin West Virginia launched an effort toerect a national coal miners’ memorial tothe 131,132 lives lost in all mineaccidents. To place that terrible toll inperspective, keep in mind that this figuresurpasses the number (116,708) ofDoughboys who died during WWI.

Coal Miner Deaths1839-1869: 8,2401870-1899: 18,2181900-1999: 104,3562000-2009: 318Grand Total: 131,132

During the July 30, 1864, Battle of the Crater, membersof the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, composed of coalminers, used their mining skills in the siege ofPetersburg, Va.

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of Post 1144, said it wasn’t so much thedangers he worried about as it was thequality of life that comes from being inthe mines more than 20 years. Arthritis,as well as knee and back pain andchronic breathing problems, are a fewof the ailments miners face long afterthey have left the mines.

“When you’re born and raised incoal, it’s just normal to do it,” saidDavid Belcher, a Cold War vet. “Whenyour father mines and your father’sfather mined, it’s expected that you’regoing into the mines, too.”

Belcher, who served with the 2ndMarine Recon Battalion off Cuba in1962, laughed at the notion of miningas an unsafe occupation and said thatwhen he was younger, he never eventhought about it.

“I remember being a little kid andbeing allowed to play around on themines,” said Belcher, who was a minerfor 25 years. “Things were just differentback then.”

He had six brothers who dug coal,and one died on the job.

Vietnam veteran William Monk saidhe remembers people talking about the early coal mining days aroundMcDowell County. Miners were paid incompany scrip, he said, rather than dollars. The scrip could only be spentat the company store and miners’ fami-lies lived in company houses. That is,until the miner was killed in the mine.Then the family was promptly evicted.

“Someone from the mine wouldshow up to deposit the body of a deadminer on the front porch and they

would ask, ‘Are you widow so-and-so?’The wife would say, ‘I’m not a widow,’and the company would reply, ‘Well,you are now,’ ” said Monk, a member ofPost 1144.

Monk, who served with HQ Btry.,12th Marine Regt., 3rd Div., from 1967-69, said he steered his two sons awayfrom mining because he wanted a bet-ter life for them.

Safety the KeyOne of the biggest changes over theyears has been the decrease in miningdeaths. WWII vet Oliver Addair, whoalso owned mines for 15 years, said a lotof accidents in mines can be avoided.

“The secret to mine safety is train-ing,” said Addair, who served with B Co., 1st Eng. Bn., 1st Marines, onOkinawa and later in China. “Humanerror causes so many of the accidents.”

Addair laughed, recalling the firsttime he went down into the mines allhunkered down.

“On the way down, I thought, ‘MaybeI made a mistake,’ ” said the Post 1144member. “But like most guys, I just gotused to it.”

Addair’s father also worked in themines, shoveling coal by hand until hewas 65.

All nine men interviewed said theirfathers had told them not to becomeminers—only one listened.

“We’re all pretty hard-headed, Iguess,” Fairbanks said.

Vietnam vet and member of Post8413, Jesse McPeake admits it’s morethan that.

“The mines really suck you in withthe pay and benefits,” he said. “There is

good money to bemade, but once youhave worked 10 years,you may as well keepworking until youretire or you’ll losethose benefits.”

McPeake, whoserved multiple tours

A Look Back:Sunshine Mine, 1972

Nearly every newspaper in the countryran the story on page one. On May 2,1972, a fire broke out in the SunshineMine in Kellogg, Idaho. Trapped insidewere 93 silver miners, 53, or 57%, ofwhom were veterans. Ten of them weremembers of Post 1675 in nearby Osborn.

Under the leadership of WalterSchulhauser, then Post commander,members launched a concerted effort toassist the victims, families and rescuers.At least 35 people from the Post worked24 hours a day during the two-weekordeal.

When it was all said and done, thePost had provided more than 12 tons offood to the miners’ families. They alsocollected blankets and other bedding forfriends and relatives who came to awaitword of survivors.

The Ladies Auxiliary made food for450 rescue workers and served nearly2,000 doughnuts to them. The womenalso baked more than 2,400 cookies.

Many members supplied refrigeratorsand freezers to store food until deliveriescould be made. Inside the Post, in a symbolicgesture ofrespect, 10chairs wereleft empty.

Only twominers sur-vived theSunshine fire, which is the worst disaster in Idaho’s history.

Today, the Sunshine Mine Memorial(it was erected in 1974) stands at themouth of the Big Creek Canyon in thehills of northern Idaho. The statue wascreated by former Sunshine miner KenLonn.

Current Post 1675 Commander Robert McKay says the Post erected and maintains a flagpole at the site.

“Our Post is always ready to help mining families should anything happen,” said McKay, who retired from mining after 19 years.

A miner’s day ceremony is held onMay 2 each year to honor the 91 menwho died at Sunshine.

Ode to Coal MinersÚ Continued from page 29

A third-generation coalminer, Harold Fairbankssaid that working in low coal seams causesback and knee problems.

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10 VFWmembers died in the disaster.

in Vietnam with the 1st CavDiv. and 1st Inf. Div.between 1966 and 1970,recalled times when he’dhave to put his lunch in asealed plastic bag. Then hetied it around his neckbecause he would have tocrawl through so muchwater just to get to his sta-tion each day.

Ron Wyatt, quartermaster of Post8413, spent 15 years in the mines beforecalling it quits. He recalled one incidentwhen he, a foreman and the electricianwent to see why their area had lostpower.

“We witnessed an explosion and ablast of fire coming out of the intersec-tion where the power center was locat-ed,” said Wyatt, who served with the AirForce’s 8th Combat Security Police inUbon, Thailand, in 1970. “They had mewait about 20 feet from the intersectionand they went in. Another blast of firecame from the breakthrough. I justknew they were dead.”

Fortunately, Wyatt said, they weren’tinjured and just had some singed hair.

Wyatt said during his years under-ground he suffered some close calls. Butother than being treated for smokeinhalation and having a piece of steeldriven through the bone in his foot andbarely making it out of a man car beforethe cable snapped, he didn’t have it sobad.

“Miners have always said that if youare a true underground coal miner, thecoal will get in your blood,” Wyatt said.“If you do go to another occupation,you’ll have a longing for the under-ground coal mine.”

Wyatt left coaling due to layoffs.Today, he is the office manager for theWest Virginia Employment Services, ajob he said keeps him quite busy in thecurrent unemployment situation.

At 6’5”, one would think ClydeTurner, who served in the Pacificaboard LCS 56 in 1945-46, was anunlikely candidate for the under-ground. But the WWII vet and com-mander of Post 1144 said he neverreally noticed it was any different forhim than any of the other guys workingalongside him.

Commander of Post 8413, Charles

Honaker, said his grandfather settled inMcDowell County in 1909 and loadedcoal by hand, as did his father. He said times were hard, and when theUnited Mine Workers of America orga-nized there under John L. Lewis, thingschanged.

“Some people around these partswould hang his photo on the wall nextto Jesus Christ,” he said.

Honaker worked in a coal prep plantfor 31 years.

Processing ‘Freedom Fuel’Navy vet Charlie Lambert didn’t go intothe mines as a miner—a kept-promisehe made to his dad, who had spent his life underground. (All eight ofLambert’s siblings made and kept thatsame promise to their father.)

Lambert worked on a mine rescueteam, but was only called in on twooccasions. Today, he is the preparationplant superintendent at Litwar Proc-essing Company, LLC.

After 33 years in the coal industry—16 of those at Litwar—Lambert knowsthe ins and outs of “freedom fuel.” Thatincludes the many stages that it goesthrough to get from the miners’ trucksto the rail cars waiting to transport itthroughout the region.

Walking through Litwar, Lambertquietly comments on the company’scurrent work force.

“At one time, 50% of us were veter-ans,” said the former Seabee who servedin Thailand, 1971-72. “Even though themajority of the employees here are 55or older, there are only two of us vetsleft.”

He said he misses the days whenthere were more vets at the company

because he found they were very seri-ous, ready to lead and always did a goodjob.

“The younger employees are good,but they think they can take the leadeven though they have no experience,”said Lambert, a member of Post 1144.

Each year, Lambert rides with themotorcycle group Rolling Thunder tothe Wall in Washington, D.C. This year,his daughter, Shellie, will ride alongsidehim and his wife.

Battle of Blair MountainEx-Doughboys face off against each

other during “Roaring ’20s.”

Throughout history, union miners haveengaged in sometimes bloody battleswith private detective forces hired by themine owners who wanted to keep theunion out.

In late August and early September1921 in Logan County, W.Va., the Battleof Blair Mountain became the largestarmed uprising in American history.Perhaps 9,000 miners faced 2,500defenders on the mountainside.

Many on both sides were WWI veter-ans. On the sheriff’s side were a goodlynumber of American Legion members.

State troopers, citizen volunteers,deputies and mine guards, under theleadership of Logan County Sheriff DonChafin, had set up forces on BlairMountain to fend off the miners. After aweek of sporadic sniping, PresidentWarren Harding sent in federal troops onSept. 2, to disperse the opposing forces.It was all over by the 4th.

Between 20 and 50 lives were lost; noone knows for sure.

Apr i l 2010 • WWW.VFW.ORG • 33

Left: Ron Wyatt, Jesse McPeake and Charles Honaker, all members of Post 8413 in Kimball,stand with veteran David Belcher after talking about their lives in the coal industry. Right: Members of Post 1144 in Iaeger—Oliver Addair, William Monk, Harold Fairbanks(kneeling), Charlie Lambert and Clyde Turner—all came from a long line of coal miners.

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‘A Lot of it is Just Common Sense’On Greenbrier Mountain near Panther,W.Va., Army vet David Cline, owner and operator of Rock N’ Roll Coal, isfrustrated with the numerous govern-ment regulations put in place typicallybecause of other mine tragedies. Hebelieves that many of those other disas-ters could have been avoided if the

mines were upto proper codein the firstplace.

“People justturned theirheads,” he said.Cline, whoserved as an

Army tank mechanic in Germany in1972. “It all comes down to money. If amine has to close until it’s up to code,no money is made.”

After Sago, Cline had to purchase the“Mine Boss.” Essentially, it is a trackingdevice that monitors the locations ofeach miner underground.

While safety is of the utmost impor-tance to Cline—he’s won multiplePacesetter awards for mine safety—hescoffs at the expensive equipmentforced upon him.

Another is the rescuer that eachminer has on his person while under-ground. In an emergency, it turns car-bon monoxide into oxygen—up to twohours of oxygen.

Yet another is the safe chamber, a 15-ft.-by-9-ft. inflatable chamber, whichcan hold up to 16 people. It has enoughoxygen and C-rations for two days.

Cline feels that in most cases the oxy-gen canisters would make an alreadybad situation worse.

Other than the “Mine Boss,” none ofthe other safety devices have been uti-lized in Cline’s mines.

“Safety has a lot to do with the peopleyou’re working with,” said Cline, whoseson also works with him. “A lot of it isjust common sense.”

Crouched down in the black wetmuck inside one of his mines, Clineseems like the one you’d want to workin the mine with. He effortlesslydescribes roof bolts and the process ofholding up the top safely so that thecoal can be mined.

Coal mine owner and operator David Cline has been working underground since he was 13.

10 Deadliest Coal Mining Disasters in U.S. HistoryDate Mine Location Dead Cause Dec 6, 1907 Monongah Nos. 6 & 8 Monongah, W.Va. 362 ExplosionOct 22, 1913 Stag Canon No. 2 Dawson, N.M. 263 ExplosionNov 13, 1909 Cherry Mine Cherry, Ill. 259 FireDec 19, 1907 Darr Van Meter, Pa. 239 ExplosionMay 1, 1900 Winter Quarters 1 & 4 Scofield, Utah 200 ExplosionMay 19, 1928 Mather No. 1 Mather, Pa. 195 ExplosionMay 19, 1902 Fraterville Coal Creek, Tenn. 184 ExplosionApr 28, 1914 Eccles No. 5 & 6 Eccles, W. Va. 181 ExplosionJan 25, 1904 Harwick Cheswick, Pa. 179 ExplosionMar 8, 1924 No. 2 Castle Gate, Utah 172 Explosion

Source: "Mining Disasters," National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

An explosion at Monongah, W.Va.,mines 6 & 8 killed 362 men on Dec.6, 1907, making it the deadliest coalmining disaster in U.S. history.

Comparable Battle KIA in U.S. Military HistoryTo provide perspective on the magnitude of these miner fatalities, a sampling of comparable combat casualties is provided.

Date Battle Location Killed War 1898 Entire War Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico 362 Spanish-AmericanJul 27, 1950 Hadong Korea 306 Korean WarJun 25, 1876 Little Big Horn Montana 268 Great Sioux IndianFeb 23, 1847 Buena Vista Mexico 267 MexicanMar 8, 1862 Hampton Roads (Naval) Off Virginia 259 CivilOct 23, 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing Beirut 241 Lebanon MissionApr 16-21, 1945 Ie Shima Ryukyu Islands 239 WWII-PacificSep 11, 1777 Brandywine Creek Pennsylvania 200 RevolutionaryAug 9, 1757 Fort William Henry New York 185 French & IndianMar 6, 1836 Alamo San Antonio, Texas 183 Texas War of Indep.Oct 12, 1942 Cape Esperance (Naval) Solomon Islands 176 WWII-PacificMar 10, 1944 USS Leopold (Naval) Off Ireland in Atlantic 171 WWII-AtlanticJul 25, 1814 Lundy's Lane Ontario, Canada 171 War of 1812Nov 17, 1965 LZ Albany Ia Drang Valley 155 Vietnam

Source: VFW Research

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When Cline was 13, his father, thelate James Cline, started him in themines. At 16, Cline’s parents went withhim to the board of education to signhim out of Iaeger High School so hecould go to work full time in the mines.His two brothers also worked the mines.

“Back then it was hard times,” hesaid.“After my dad died, I saw one of hisW-2s and some years he made as littleas $400, while supporting a family. Buthe did it because he had to. Peoplearen’t like that anymore.”

He started his mining company in1995 and opened seven mines. Cur-rently, two mines are still producing. In2008, his company produced 240,000tons of clean coal.

Cline shrugs off the notion of miningas one of the most dangerous occupa-tions. He said it is not anything he hasever given much thought to.

“When your number is up, it’s up,” hesaid. “You never know what’s waitingaround the corner for you no matterwhat profession you are in.”

‘An Endangered Species’In 2008, there were less than 50,000underground coal miners at work. Some75% of them mine in Appalachia withthe largest number (15,000) in WestVirginia.

With more and more mines closingdue to government regulation andautomation, coal miner numbers arediminishing.

“The underground Appalachian coalminer could one day become an endan-gered species,”Derek Burnett wrote inthe June 2007 Readers Digest.

But one thing remains clear, as longas Americans rely on electricity, coalwill still be an unseen, yet essential partof daily life. While that demand exists,surely there will be those coal minerswilling to lay it on the line and continuetheir descent underground.

“This nation owes the coal miner anunbelievable debt,” United MineWorkers of America President CecilRoberts told the Kentucky LexingtonHerald-Leader. J

E-mail jblankenship@vfw.org

36 • VFW • Apr i l 2010

Ode to Coal MinersÚ Continued from page 34

In response to our request for VFWmembers to share their mining experi-ences, here are some excerpts from justsome of the letters we received.

“I was born in the coal regions ofPennsylvania in the 1930s. It was notuncommon for a man to be killed, hisbody brought out and deposited on thefamily porch.”

William Fehlinger (father was aminer), Post 7247, Mays Landing, N.J.

“Roof falls, water, methane gas andelectrocution are just some of the haz-ards we faced. I worked in the mine forthe same reason my dad and his daddid: to feed my family.”

Charlie Lee, Post 803, Clairton, Pa.

“I went to work in the coal mines in1947. I was very blessed and only lostfour teeth, a few drops of blood,eyelashes and eyebrows fromignitions.”

Jack Farmer, Post 4667, Mouth Wilson, Va.

“Out of the Army and into the minesin 1947. I was caught in the fall of coaland my helmet saved me. I got a headinjury and five-inch blue scar on myface.”

P. Voystock, Post 5010, Freeland, Pa.

“The mountain groaned with suchforce that I also felt it. The timbers thatwere holding the rocks and dirt backfrom our work area gave way to thepower of the mountain. The cave had

collapsed and we were trapped. Within ashort time, they had moved enough dirtfrom the entrance of our work area sothat we could crawl out.”

Vincent Silva, Post 10789, Brentwood, Calif.

“We would put dynamite in all theholes and pack the remainder withpadding of coal dust to contain the explosion. In one day, three of us sent300 tons to the top.”

William Shaw, Post 4194, Palm City, Fla.

“A cable running down the trolleypole to the main power box came looseand dropped down on the steel wheel ofthe locomotive. Fire and sparks filled theoperator’s deck where I was sitting. I hadnowhere to go. I jumped from the mov-ing motor toward an open spot alongthe track. I landed on a crib block butended up with only several bruises.”

Wilbur England, Post 9916, Granville, W.Va.

“The vents inside the mine were com-pletely destroyed due to the explosion.We walked four miles in search of ourcolleagues. They were dead and wenever saw them again. We filled thelarge hole with sand water to make agrave for them. I am an 89-year-old manand the memories I have from that dayhave always been a part of me and it issomething I will never forget.”

Charles Matteri, Post 1929, Petaluma, Calif.

Close Calls in the Coal Mines

The Coal Miners Memorial of Virginia was officially dedicated on July 22, 2009, to all the state’sminers killed on the job. Located in Richlands, more than 1,200 names are etched on the blackgranite wall. VFW members participated in the ceremony.

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