This document summarizes the dangerous occupation of coal mining and the tribute that Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) members pay to coal miners who sacrificed their lives. It discusses how many VFW members are either current or former coal miners themselves. It also profiles some coal miners, describing their toughness and discussing the risks and dangers of working underground. Several deadly mining disasters over the years are highlighted, capturing the nation's attention. The important role that coal mining has played in supporting national defense is also summarized.

1. BY JANIE BLANKENSHIP
Part two of the three-part
series 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 member
of Post 1144 in Iaeger, W.Va.,
Charlie Lambert has had his
hands 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 mine
rescue team and still works in
the coal preparation business.
28 • VFW • April 2010
s the memorial was dedicated in
July 2009, members of Post 9640 in
Richlands, Va., fired a salute and
solemnly played “Taps” in memory of
the 1,200 names listed on the black
granite wall.
VFW members were not honoring
war dead, but the casualties sustained in
an industry vital to the nation’s energy
security—coal mining.
“Like warriors of war, we feel we have
a kinship with coal miners who sacri-
ficed their lives providing an essential
service to all Americans,” Post 9640
Quartermaster Clyde Roberts said.
Not only do VFW members recog-
nize the importance of this sector of
our economy, but they themselves work
in it, or have worked the mines, in large
numbers.
As the West Virginia Coal Miner stat-
ue proudly proclaims, miners provide
the nation“with low-cost reliable house-
hold and industrial energy.”
Indeed, coal provides half the coun-
try’s electric power. The U.S. is regarded
as the “Saudi Arabia of Coal,” holding
25% of the world’s supply. Hence coal’s
nickname,“Freedom Fuel.”
A certain mystique surrounds the
men who work in the eeriness of the
underground. “That mystique is at-
tached to the miners who are such a
part of the nation’s consciousness and
soul,”reported ABC News.
A

2. April 2010 • WWW.VFW.ORG • 29
5 Deadliest U.S.Mining Disasters SinceWWII
Date Mine Location Dead Cause
Dec 21, 1951 Orient No. 2 West Frankfort, Ill. 119 Explosion
Feb 26, 1972 Saunders Buffalo Creek, W.Va. 114 Flood
Mar 25, 1947 Centralia No. 5 Centralia, Ill. 111 Explosion
May 2, 1972 Sunshine (Silver) Kellogg, Idaho 91 Fire
Nov 20, 1968 Consol No. 9 Farmington, W.Va. 78 Explosion
Source: “Mining Disasters,” National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
Captivating a Nation
While safety measures and
technology have vastly im-
proved conditions for min-
ers, tragedy still strikes
occasionally. And when it
does, the nation seems
spellbound.
On Sept. 23, 2001, at the
Jim Walter Resources Blue
Creek No. 5 Mine in Brook-
wood, Ala., 13 miners were
killed as the result of two
gas explosions.
And like a soldier who
vows to never leave a fallen
comrade on the battlefield,
10 of the 13 Brookwood
victims died because they
refused to evacuate so that
they could help co-workers
left stranded.
“He wasn’t going to leave
anybody,” said Michael
Boyd, whose brother,
Clarence, was killed that
day. “He would have been
the last one out.”
The No. 5 Coal Miner’s
Memorial was dedicated on
Sept. 23, 2002, to those who
were killed. Jim Walter Re-
sources spearheaded this
effort. 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 West
Virginia made the front page of major
newspapers across the county. A capti-
vated nation watched the news as res-
cuers attempted to save 13 miners.
Forty hours later when rescuers
reached 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 completed
section of the Sago Mine Memorial was
unveiled in Philippi. Phase two will etch
the 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 in
Time magazine that coal miners “hark
back to Dickensian, even prehistoric
times, when making a living meant
chancing death. Mining, however, is a
different kind of danger [from war],
and its disasters take us … out of our
time. The men risk explosion or
asphyxiation … to put food on the
table.
“What are coal miners? People who
descend into hell. People who dig into
the devil’s backyard, where nothing
lives, and bring forth something that
burns as hot as Satan’s fire.”
After writer Jeanne Laskas spent time
in the Ohio coal mines for an article
published in GQ, she said that with the
exception 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 out
more about this unique occupation.
That county has produced more coal
than any other in the state.
On a snowy January night, members
of Posts 1144 and 8413 gathered at the
Veterans Center in Kimball, a few miles
from Welch. They talked about how
much has changed in mining, most
for the better. Humorous stories were
shared about the numerous practical
jokes played underground to “lighten
the mood.”
One thing they didn’t talk much
about were the dangers inside the
mountains.
“My grandfather died in the mines,
my father died in the mines, and I
almost died in the mines,” said Harold
Fairbanks of Roderfield.“That’s just the
way it is.”
The Army vet said the top fell in
about two seconds after he passed the
collapse point that day long ago. He
candidly recalled another time when he
had to crawl 1,000 feet just to get to
some fresh air.
Although he is a third-generation
miner, Fairbanks said he wasn’t having
that life for his children.
“My boy dropped out of college and
I told him he was not going into the
mines,”said Fairbanks, who served with
the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the
Far East. “I drove him north to Beckley
and told him he could enlist in the
Air Force.”
Like some of the others gathered
there that night, Fairbanks, a member
PHOTOBYJANIEBLANKENSHIP
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.
PHOTOCOURTESYWILBURENGLAND
PUBLICDOMAINPHOTO
Continued on page 32 Ú

3. 30 • VFW • April 2010
‘Dying for Democracy’
National defense and coal mining are
inextricably intertwined. During the Civil
War, coal was essential to the Union war
effort. In 1860, there were 36,500 coal
miners in America, more than 80% of
them working in Pennsylvania, and they
were in big demand.
Still, coal miners marched off to war,
draining the industry of labor. Welsh,
English and Scottish immigrant miners
volunteered for the Union Army in large
numbers. Coal miners from Frostburg,
Md., for instance, spontaneously formed
their own company. Not surprisingly,
Pennsylvania supplied the preponder-
ance of miner recruits for federal forces.
The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry
Regiment, recruited in the mining region
of Schuylkill County and led by Lt. Col.
Henry Pleasants (a mining engineer in
civilian life), gained fame in the Battle of
the Crater on July 30, 1864, during the
siege of Petersburg, Va. The miners dug
a 511-foot mine shaft under Confederate
lines and planted explosive charges.
Before it returned from the “fields of
blood” in 1865, the 48th had sustained
156 KIA and 373 WIA. Three of its men
earned the Medal of Honor.
Of course, mining for other precious
minerals such silver and gold also took
place before and after the war. And it
was extremely hazardous work, but
overshadowed by coal mine disasters to
come. Perhaps 7,500 miners died on the
Western mining frontier. In comparison,
the regular Army recorded 929 KIA in the
trans-Mississippi West Indian campaigns
after the Civil War.
Death on the Battlefield
and Home Front
By World War I, coal mining was
deemed so valuable to defense that draft
boards in West Virginia were ordered to
exempt miners. Gen. John Pershing con-
gratulated miners for “standing stead-
fastly” in the battle against the German
Kaiser. Nevertheless, some 50,000 coal
miners ignored their exemptions and
enlisted—3,000 died in France and else-
where.
Even so, West Virginia miners had a
death rate at home higher than that of
the American Expeditionary Force over-
seas. Some 404 of the state’s coal min-
ers perished in explosions and accidents
in 1918. The Mine Workers Journal
declared that “these local boys
died in the interests of democ-
racy, they were exerting their
manpower in the production of
coal with which to help win the
war.”
During WWII, 5,288 miners
died on the home front. In the
years of the Korean War (1950-
53), another 1,976 fatalities
occurred in the coal mines.
Over the course of the Vietnam
War, 1,825 miners lost their
lives. And in those wars, West
Virginia servicemen had the
first, second or third highest
casualty rates. The West
Virginia Veterans Memorial on
the state Capitol grounds in
Charleston attests to its losses
in four 20th century wars with 10,877
etched names.
West Virginia has the dubious distinc-
tion of having the highest state hostile
death rate in Vietnam: 84.1 per 100,000
males compared to the national average
of 58.9. “If you were from Appalachia,
you were 50% more likely to have been
killed in Vietnam,” said Steven Giles,
then the chief psychologist at the VA
medical center in Johnson City, Tenn.
Dr. Charles Walter, a clinical psycholo-
gist there when the study was done in
the 1980s, said: “They chose to be in
combat and they were chosen. Officers
chose Appalachians for point men and
for patrols because they felt they were
motivated, more likely to be woods-wise
and more familiar with the use of
weapons.” Both psychologists attributed
this propensity to seek combat to the so-
called “Sgt. York Syndrome.”
Remembering the Sacrifices
Coal mining today is infinitely safer than
in yesteryear. Only three coal miner
deaths occurred in West Virginia out of a
total of 18 nationwide in 2009. Prior to
the Great Depression, however, an aver-
age of 2,295 miners was killed every
year. On occasion, entire United Mine
Workers locals were wiped out. Mine
disasters were so commonplace that the
public 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 by
Confederate and Union troops at the
Battle of Chancellorsville, or more than
the Doughboys suffered in the Somme
Offensive in 1918.
Up until the end of WWII, miner
deaths were still topping 1,000 annually.
But safety laws, especially since the
Federal Coal Mine Health & Safety Act of
1969, have made a tremendous differ-
ence in saving lives. In the entire 25
years between 1983 and 2008, 1,119
miners died on the job. Only once during
this period—in 1984 when 125 miners
died—did the fatality count even come
close to exceeding 100.
Still, miners do not want their ances-
tors’ sacrifices forgotten. Memorials to
specific mine disasters dot the
landscape throughout coal country,
county courthouse lawns contain monu-
ments and miner statues grace the
grounds of several state capitals. In
2009, Virginia dedicated what is perhaps
the only state memorial with names
engraved on it to coal miners. But no
national tribute exists.
Though unsuccessful, the Boone
County Historic Landmark Commission
in West Virginia launched an effort to
erect a national coal miners’ memorial to
the 131,132 lives lost in all mine
accidents. To place that terrible toll in
perspective, keep in mind that this figure
surpasses the number (116,708) of
Doughboys who died during WWI.
Coal Miner Deaths
1839-1869: 8,240
1870-1899: 18,218
1900-1999: 104,356
2000-2009: 318
Grand Total: 131,132
During the July 30, 1864, Battle of the Crater, members
of the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, composed of coal
miners, used their mining skills in the siege of
Petersburg, Va.
PAINTINGBYDONTROIANI,WWW.HISTORICALARTPRINTS.COM

4. 32 • VFW • April 2010
of Post 1144, said it wasn’t so much the
dangers he worried about as it was the
quality of life that comes from being in
the mines more than 20 years. Arthritis,
as well as knee and back pain and
chronic breathing problems, are a few
of the ailments miners face long after
they have left the mines.
“When you’re born and raised in
coal, it’s just normal to do it,” said
David Belcher, a Cold War vet. “When
your father mines and your father’s
father mined, it’s expected that you’re
going into the mines, too.”
Belcher, who served with the 2nd
Marine Recon Battalion off Cuba in
1962, laughed at the notion of mining
as an unsafe occupation and said that
when he was younger, he never even
thought about it.
“I remember being a little kid and
being allowed to play around on the
mines,” said Belcher, who was a miner
for 25 years. “Things were just different
back then.”
He had six brothers who dug coal,
and one died on the job.
Vietnam veteran William Monk said
he remembers people talking about
the early coal mining days around
McDowell County. Miners were paid in
company scrip, he said, rather than
dollars. The scrip could only be spent
at 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 would
show up to deposit the body of a dead
miner 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 of
Post 1144.
Monk, who served with HQ Btry.,
12th Marine Regt., 3rd Div., from 1967-
69, said he steered his two sons away
from mining because he wanted a bet-
ter life for them.
Safety the Key
One of the biggest changes over the
years has been the decrease in mining
deaths. WWII vet Oliver Addair, who
also owned mines for 15 years, said a lot
of 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, on
Okinawa and later in China. “Human
error causes so many of the accidents.”
Addair laughed, recalling the first
time he went down into the mines all
hunkered down.
“On the way down, I thought,‘Maybe
I made a mistake,’” said the Post 1144
member. “But like most guys, I just got
used to it.”
Addair’s father also worked in the
mines, shoveling coal by hand until he
was 65.
All nine men interviewed said their
fathers had told them not to become
miners—only one listened.
“We’re all pretty hard-headed, I
guess,”Fairbanks said.
Vietnam vet and member of Post
8413, Jesse McPeake admits it’s more
than that.
“The mines really suck you in with
the pay and benefits,” he said. “There is
good money to be
made, but once you
have worked 10 years,
you may as well keep
working until you
retire or you’ll lose
those benefits.”
McPeake, who
served multiple tours
A Look Back:
Sunshine Mine, 1972
Nearly every newspaper in the country
ran the story on page one. On May 2,
1972, a fire broke out in the Sunshine
Mine in Kellogg, Idaho. Trapped inside
were 93 silver miners, 53, or 57%, of
whom were veterans. Ten of them were
members of Post 1675 in nearby Osborn.
Under the leadership of Walter
Schulhauser, then Post commander,
members launched a concerted effort to
assist the victims, families and rescuers.
At least 35 people from the Post worked
24 hours a day during the two-week
ordeal.
When it was all said and done, the
Post had provided more than 12 tons of
food to the miners’ families. They also
collected blankets and other bedding for
friends and relatives who came to await
word of survivors.
The Ladies Auxiliary made food for
450 rescue workers and served nearly
2,000 doughnuts to them. The women
also baked more than 2,400 cookies.
Many members supplied refrigerators
and freezers to store food until deliveries
could be made. Inside the Post, in a
symbolic
gesture of
respect, 10
chairs were
left empty.
Only two
miners sur-
vived the
Sunshine fire, which is the worst
disaster in Idaho’s history.
Today, the Sunshine Mine Memorial
(it was erected in 1974) stands at the
mouth of the Big Creek Canyon in the
hills of northern Idaho. The statue was
created by former Sunshine miner Ken
Lonn.
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 on
May 2 each year to honor the 91 men
who died at Sunshine.
Ode to Coal Miners
Ú Continued from page 29
A third-generation coal
miner, Harold Fairbanks
said that working in
low coal seams causes
back and knee problems.
PHOTOCOURTESYHAROLDFAIRBANKS
10 VFW
members died
in the disaster.

5. in Vietnam with the 1st Cav
Div. and 1st Inf. Div.
between 1966 and 1970,
recalled times when he’d
have to put his lunch in a
sealed plastic bag. Then he
tied it around his neck
because he would have to
crawl through so much
water just to get to his sta-
tion each day.
Ron Wyatt, quartermaster of Post
8413, spent 15 years in the mines before
calling it quits. He recalled one incident
when he, a foreman and the electrician
went to see why their area had lost
power.
“We witnessed an explosion and a
blast of fire coming out of the intersec-
tion where the power center was locat-
ed,” said Wyatt, who served with the Air
Force’s 8th Combat Security Police in
Ubon, Thailand, in 1970.“They had me
wait about 20 feet from the intersection
and they went in. Another blast of fire
came from the breakthrough. I just
knew they were dead.”
Fortunately, Wyatt said, they weren’t
injured and just had some singed hair.
Wyatt said during his years under-
ground he suffered some close calls. But
other than being treated for smoke
inhalation and having a piece of steel
driven through the bone in his foot and
barely making it out of a man car before
the cable snapped, he didn’t have it so
bad.
“Miners have always said that if you
are a true underground coal miner, the
coal 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 the
West Virginia Employment Services, a
job he said keeps him quite busy in the
current unemployment situation.
At 6’5”, one would think Clyde
Turner, who served in the Pacific
aboard LCS 56 in 1945-46, was an
unlikely candidate for the under-
ground. But the WWII vet and com-
mander of Post 1144 said he never
really noticed it was any different for
him than any of the other guys working
alongside him.
Commander of Post 8413, Charles
Honaker, said his grandfather settled in
McDowell County in 1909 and loaded
coal by hand, as did his father. He
said times were hard, and when the
United Mine Workers of America orga-
nized there under John L. Lewis, things
changed.
“Some people around these parts
would hang his photo on the wall next
to Jesus Christ,”he said.
Honaker worked in a coal prep plant
for 31 years.
Processing ‘Freedom Fuel’
Navy vet Charlie Lambert didn’t go into
the mines as a miner—a kept-promise
he made to his dad, who had spent
his life underground. (All eight of
Lambert’s siblings made and kept that
same promise to their father.)
Lambert worked on a mine rescue
team, but was only called in on two
occasions. Today, he is the preparation
plant superintendent at Litwar Proc-
essing Company, LLC.
After 33 years in the coal industry—
16 of those at Litwar—Lambert knows
the ins and outs of “freedom fuel.” That
includes the many stages that it goes
through to get from the miners’ trucks
to the rail cars waiting to transport it
throughout the region.
Walking through Litwar, Lambert
quietly comments on the company’s
current work force.
“At one time, 50% of us were veter-
ans,” said the former Seabee who served
in Thailand, 1971-72.“Even though the
majority of the employees here are 55
or older, there are only two of us vets
left.”
He said he misses the days when
there were more vets at the company
because he found they were very seri-
ous, ready to lead and always did a good
job.
“The younger employees are good,
but they think they can take the lead
even though they have no experience,”
said Lambert, a member of Post 1144.
Each year, Lambert rides with the
motorcycle group Rolling Thunder to
the Wall in Washington, D.C. This year,
his daughter, Shellie, will ride alongside
him and his wife.
Battle of Blair Mountain
Ex-Doughboys face off against each
other during “Roaring ’20s.”
Throughout history, union miners have
engaged in sometimes bloody battles
with private detective forces hired by the
mine owners who wanted to keep the
union out.
In late August and early September
1921 in Logan County, W.Va., the Battle
of Blair Mountain became the largest
armed uprising in American history.
Perhaps 9,000 miners faced 2,500
defenders on the mountainside.
Many on both sides were WWI veter-
ans. On the sheriff’s side were a goodly
number of American Legion members.
State troopers, citizen volunteers,
deputies and mine guards, under the
leadership of Logan County Sheriff Don
Chafin, had set up forces on Blair
Mountain to fend off the miners. After a
week of sporadic sniping, President
Warren Harding sent in federal troops on
Sept. 2, to disperse the opposing forces.
It was all over by the 4th.
Between 20 and 50 lives were lost; no
one knows for sure.
April 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.
VFWPHOTOS/JANIEBLANKENSHIP

6. 34 • VFW • April 2010
‘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, is
frustrated with the numerous govern-
ment regulations put in place typically
because of other mine tragedies. He
believes that many of those other disas-
ters could have been avoided if the
mines were up
to proper code
in the first
place.
“People just
turned their
heads,”he said.
Cline, who
served as an
Army tank mechanic in Germany in
1972. “It all comes down to money. If a
mine 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 tracking
device that monitors the locations of
each miner underground.
While safety is of the utmost impor-
tance to Cline—he’s won multiple
Pacesetter awards for mine safety—he
scoffs at the expensive equipment
forced upon him.
Another is the rescuer that each
miner has on his person while under-
ground. In an emergency, it turns car-
bon monoxide into oxygen—up to two
hours of oxygen.
Yet another is the safe chamber, a 15-
ft.-by-9-ft. inflatable chamber, which
can hold up to 16 people. It has enough
oxygen and C-rations for two days.
Cline feels that in most cases the oxy-
gen canisters would make an already
bad situation worse.
Other than the “Mine Boss,” none of
the other safety devices have been uti-
lized in Cline’s mines.
“Safety has a lot to do with the people
you’re working with,” said Cline, whose
son also works with him. “A lot of it is
just common sense.”
Crouched down in the black wet
muck inside one of his mines, Cline
seems like the one you’d want to work
in the mine with. He effortlessly
describes roof bolts and the process of
holding up the top safely so that the
coal 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.History
Date Mine Location Dead Cause
Dec 6, 1907 Monongah Nos. 6 & 8 Monongah, W.Va. 362 Explosion
Oct 22, 1913 Stag Canon No. 2 Dawson, N.M. 263 Explosion
Nov 13, 1909 Cherry Mine Cherry, Ill. 259 Fire
Dec 19, 1907 Darr Van Meter, Pa. 239 Explosion
May 1, 1900 Winter Quarters 1 & 4 Scofield, Utah 200 Explosion
May 19, 1928 Mather No. 1 Mather, Pa. 195 Explosion
May 19, 1902 Fraterville Coal Creek, Tenn. 184 Explosion
Apr 28, 1914 Eccles No. 5 & 6 Eccles, W. Va. 181 Explosion
Jan 25, 1904 Harwick Cheswick, Pa. 179 Explosion
Mar 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 coal
mining disaster in U.S. history.
Comparable Battle KIA in U.S.Military History
To 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-American
Jul 27, 1950 Hadong Korea 306 Korean War
Jun 25, 1876 Little Big Horn Montana 268 Great Sioux Indian
Feb 23, 1847 Buena Vista Mexico 267 Mexican
Mar 8, 1862 Hampton Roads (Naval) Off Virginia 259 Civil
Oct 23, 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing Beirut 241 Lebanon Mission
Apr 16-21, 1945 Ie Shima Ryukyu Islands 239 WWII-Pacific
Sep 11, 1777 Brandywine Creek Pennsylvania 200 Revolutionary
Aug 9, 1757 Fort William Henry New York 185 French & Indian
Mar 6, 1836 Alamo San Antonio, Texas 183 Texas War of Indep.
Oct 12, 1942 Cape Esperance (Naval) Solomon Islands 176 WWII-Pacific
Mar 10, 1944 USS Leopold (Naval) Off Ireland in Atlantic 171 WWII-Atlantic
Jul 25, 1814 Lundy's Lane Ontario, Canada 171 War of 1812
Nov 17, 1965 LZ Albany Ia Drang Valley 155 Vietnam
Source: VFW Research
Continued on page 36 Ú
PHOTOBYJANIEBLANKENSHIP
WWW.EINHORNPRESS.COM

7. When Cline was 13, his father, the
late James Cline, started him in the
mines. At 16, Cline’s parents went with
him to the board of education to sign
him out of Iaeger High School so he
could go to work full time in the mines.
His two brothers also worked the mines.
“Back then it was hard times,” he
said.“After my dad died, I saw one of his
W-2s and some years he made as little
as $400, while supporting a family. But
he did it because he had to. People
aren’t like that anymore.”
He started his mining company in
1995 and opened seven mines. Cur-
rently, two mines are still producing. In
2008, his company produced 240,000
tons of clean coal.
Cline shrugs off the notion of mining
as one of the most dangerous occupa-
tions. He said it is not anything he has
ever given much thought to.
“When your number is up, it’s up,”he
said. “You never know what’s waiting
around the corner for you no matter
what profession you are in.”
‘An Endangered Species’
In 2008, there were less than 50,000
underground coal miners at work.Some
75% of them mine in Appalachia with
the largest number (15,000) in West
Virginia.
With more and more mines closing
due to government regulation and
automation, coal miner numbers are
diminishing.
“The underground Appalachian coal
miner could one day become an endan-
gered species,”Derek Burnett wrote in
the June 2007 Readers Digest.
But one thing remains clear, as long
as Americans rely on electricity, coal
will still be an unseen, yet essential part
of daily life. While that demand exists,
surely there will be those coal miners
willing to lay it on the line and continue
their descent underground.
“This nation owes the coal miner an
unbelievable debt,” United Mine
Workers of America President Cecil
Roberts told the Kentucky Lexington
Herald-Leader. J
E-mail jblankenship@vfw.org
36 • VFW • April 2010
Ode to Coal Miners
Ú Continued from page 34
In response to our request for VFW
members to share their mining experi-
ences, here are some excerpts from just
some of the letters we received.
“I was born in the coal regions of
Pennsylvania in the 1930s. It was not
uncommon for a man to be killed, his
body brought out and deposited on the
family porch.”
William Fehlinger (father was a
miner), Post 7247, Mays Landing, N.J.
“Roof falls, water, methane gas and
electrocution are just some of the haz-
ards we faced. I worked in the mine for
the same reason my dad and his dad
did: to feed my family.”
Charlie Lee, Post 803, Clairton, Pa.
“I went to work in the coal mines in
1947. I was very blessed and only lost
four teeth, a few drops of blood,
eyelashes and eyebrows from
ignitions.”
Jack Farmer, Post 4667,
Mouth Wilson, Va.
“Out of the Army and into the mines
in 1947. I was caught in the fall of coal
and my helmet saved me. I got a head
injury and five-inch blue scar on my
face.”
P. Voystock, Post 5010, Freeland, Pa.
“The mountain groaned with such
force that I also felt it. The timbers that
were holding the rocks and dirt back
from our work area gave way to the
power of the mountain. The cave had
collapsed and we were trapped. Within a
short time, they had moved enough dirt
from the entrance of our work area so
that we could crawl out.”
Vincent Silva, Post 10789,
Brentwood, Calif.
“We would put dynamite in all the
holes and pack the remainder with
padding of coal dust to contain the
explosion. In one day, three of us sent
300 tons to the top.”
William Shaw, Post 4194,
Palm City, Fla.
“A cable running down the trolley
pole to the main power box came loose
and dropped down on the steel wheel of
the locomotive. Fire and sparks filled the
operator’s deck where I was sitting. I had
nowhere to go. I jumped from the mov-
ing motor toward an open spot along
the track. I landed on a crib block but
ended 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 our
colleagues. They were dead and we
never saw them again. We filled the
large hole with sand water to make a
grave for them. I am an 89-year-old man
and the memories I have from that day
have always been a part of me and it is
something 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’s
miners killed on the job. Located in Richlands, more than 1,200 names are etched on the black
granite wall. VFW members participated in the ceremony.
PHOTOBYDOUGBRANTON/RICHLANDS
AREACHAMBEROFCOMMERCE