The Times West Virginian

Opinion

December 6, 2009

We owe our miners much more than we can pay back

There are those who came before us who lost their lives.

They didn’t know when they went into the mine that day that something would happen — a spark, an explosion, a fire. They didn’t know that when they said goodbye to their families and grabbed their lunch pail that day, it would be the last time. They didn’t know their widows would huddle together waiting for word, losing all hope of a safe recovery.

And they certainly did not know that through the horrific accidents that caused their deaths, our industry would learn very difficult lessons. They did not know their deaths were not in vain — others would go down into safer mines on other days because of advancements in safety technology.

No, they were doing their job. They were doing what they could to put food on the table and keep shoes on the kids.

But we owe them more than we could ever pay back.

Late last week, a resolution passed in the Senate just days before this 102nd anniversary of the Monongah Mine Disaster, that would make today National Miner’s Day. It’s not a day off from work or school or mail delivery. It is a day set aside to honor miners, past, present and future, who take that long elevator ride down into the dark so that we may turn on the lights.

More than 50 percent of electricity in this country comes from plants where coal is fired to generate energy.

“We owe a profound thanks to the miners who risk their lives every day to help to ensure that the lights glow brightly in our homes each and every night,” Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said. “Miners today must contend not only with health and safety hazards in the field, but with uncertainty about their future. This resolution says a big thank you for their hard work, their sacrifice and their commitment to our country.”

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said this commemorative holiday honors those who helped build this state.

“Coal miners are West Virginia’s backbone — good people who work hard and risk their lives every day so that the rest of America can turn the lights on and build a strong economy,” Rockefeller said. “All of the credit goes to our miners — they deserve this resolution’s recognition and expression of gratitude, and so much more. We must continue to fight for the coal miners all across our state — for their safety, their health care, their retirement and their jobs — for decades to come.”

This grassroots effort started right here in Marion County three years ago, and the date coincides with the death of more than 350 miners in the twin Monongah mines of No. 6 and No. 8 on the morning of Dec. 6, 1907 — the most horrific mine disaster our county has ever known. But the day also honors the 78 men who died Nov. 20, 1968, in an explosion at the Farmington No. 9 Mine.

And the day honors the 12 miners who were killed Jan. 2, 2006, in the Sago Mine in Upshur County. And the day honors those killed in smaller-scale accidents. And those who spent their careers in the mines, helping build the area’s economy. And those who still today make their living underground, mining the coal that runs our country.

There is no currency known to man that could ever pay the debt of gratitude we owe them. But we can start by taking today and honoring miners, past, present and future.

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