Mining is an inconceivable profession and lifestyle to many — men and women travel miles down into the ground to extract valuable ores, working incredibly long days in near-total darkness, crouching through tunnels, and never truly knowing if they'll make it out. When Barrie called our attention to the miners' profile in GQ, she told us about the tags miners wear around their necks that they hang by the mine entrance before they go in, so those on the outside will know who's down there. This seemingly trivial detail drove the point home for many of us: Can you imagine hanging an identifying tag at the front entrance of your workplace, just in case you don't make it out alive?
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as a daughter of a miner one of my most vivid memories was of the wives freezing in position when they heard the whistles that indicated a rock fall. Also, during a time in China as a teacher I met a Chinese teacher of English who had been a miner during the Industrial Revolution. There was an instant empathy between us as we talked about mining.
As the wife of a Utah coalminer who worked in Crandal Canyon with the trapped men before being transferred to another of Bob Murray's mines, I take exception to today's broadcast, particulary the comments of callers. Coalminers are not a "unique breed," they are ordinary men who grew up in small mining towns with limited educational resources,limited expectations and limited opportunities. They were drawn to the mines by good pay and their youthful belief in their own immortality, only to find themselves trapped 30 years later by the mortgage and their lack of skills. While I cannot speak to other's experience of mining, neither can they speak to that of my husband and the men he works with in the unique Utah terrain under the deepest cover anywhere in the country, if not the world, with the attendant bounces that cause the floor to heave, heavy machinery to leave its moorings and tosses men around like toys. These are the conditions my husband faces as he enters his fourth week of working 10 to 12 hour shifts on a longwall move without a day off. Please don't compare this to your daily commute.
I was disappointed in the program on miners who work underground. (I grew up in an ironing mining town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.)Democracy Now, broadcast 8-14-07, interviewed Ellen Smith who was far more informative - and whose information was far more compelling.
Here's the link:
* Search For Six Trapped Coal Miners in Utah Continues For A Ninth Day *
Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safey and Health News, discusses the mine collapse, the weakening of mine safety regulations under President Clinton and President Bush, and the history of the mine's owner -- Murray Energy Corporation.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/14/1352240
Glad to see the coal miners get a little recognition for keeping America in the light.
Coal miners and others that support them may like this song my high school aged son, Kirk, Jr., crafted last year. It was so thoughtful, I helped him get it recorded.
"Remember West Virginia Coal"
Artist - Kelly Coberly
Songwriters - Kirk Wesley Boland, Jr.
Kirk Wesley Boland
Copyright 2006, Kirk Wesley Boland
PAu3-018-817
That West Virginia morning, changed the lives in that coal town
And when the dust had settled, there were widows all around
They rolled down deep each morning, with pride for their family
While never really knowing, if again the light they'd see
(CHORUS)
And America prays, for their children
And America prays, in their memory
And America cries, that coal dust built this land
And America cries, America cries
Our country funds most anything, makes decisions that are hard
But where's the safety in our coal mines, as we dig in our backyard
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Come on don't forget them now, some dads ain't coming home
Next time you turn on your lights, remember West Virginia Coal
(REPEAT CHORUS)
(TAG)
And America cries, America cries
You may listen to the song on the website, www.kellycoberly.com.
Kelly Coberly is the artist that cut the song for us.
She knew some of the coal miners from last year's West Virginia coal mine accident.
Thanks for your time, as always, I never miss the show.
Keep up the great work.
Sincerely,
Kirk Wesley Boland
Southeast Of Nashville Records
as a person who has absolutly nothing to do with mining, i am glad that i have nothing to do with mining.
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