WV miners not responding to first hole drilled

We're prayed for all victims of this terrible tragedy

I am a daughter, granddaughter, and spouse of a West Virginia coalminer, and my heart goes out to the families of this terrible tragedy. As I sit glued to the T.V. screen and listen to the local radio stations I can't help but think that this could so easily be my coal miner trapped, hurt, or worse. They are all in my thoughts and prayers.

With this being said, I think that being a coal miner takes a very special breed of man. Not anyone could crawl in a hole underground and work long, hard shifts everyday of their life, yet that is what our men do. They love it. I honestly believe that it is somehow in their blood. Some of these men have college degrees, but they chose to be a miner. I know some people can't understand that. I guess to truely understand it, you would have to be from here.

I am so proud of my state. It has always been the center of "dumb hillbilly" jokes, and my high school mascot was none other than a Hillbilly. However, I can promise you that you could not travel this world over and find any other people that would treat you the way West Virginia people do. We are very proud people, but we treat EVERYONE with respect. I hope the media does the same for the families that have lost loved ones in this tragedy. Please give them time to grieve.

Larry; Is coal mining worth the effort?
I say yes! I worked for twenty six years 700 feet and four miles back int the black!
I sent three children to collage and fed my family!
I knew that each day could bring my end but then many more are killed on the highways.
I was more afraid of driving to work many nights in the snow and ice than I was working underground!
My grand father, father in law , myself and now my son carried a lunch bucket to the mine. I have to go past a live fire in the mine to get to my work area.
Each and every mine has to be examined in it's entirety each day.
As for the flooding of the mines, when we came close to abandoned workings my company drilled ahead to make certain we had no surprises.
A good coal mining company looks out for it's men!

I am a former coal miner as was my grandfather, his two brothers, my grandmothers two brothers were one of which was killed in the mines. Some people used think that a coal miner is uneducated and not very intelegent. That only goes to show how smart those people are. The fact is it takes a special breed of individual that will put his life on the line every day to support his family.
Sadly some coal compamies think the mule is worth more than the man. What I mean by that is in early coal mining the mule was used to pull the cart of coal out of the mine. If a man got hurt of killed the company would only have to hire someone to replace him. If a mule got hurt or killed the company would have spend money to replace it.

I wish that all of the people out there that disagree with the mining of coal would realize what all coal does for our country and the world for the most part. I am the daughter and grand-daughter of coal miners and i couldn't be prouder of that.
Our society thrives on coal! It goes into the production of billiard balls, disinfectant, fertilizer, cosmetics, lipstick, perfume, medicine, baking powder, bowling balls, sugar substitute, paint pigment, paving, and roofing just to name a few. In some way, all of us use some sort of coal product everyday. I would love to know how many of the coal protesters use a TV or a Radio, coal is used to make parts for both. Or how many of those "tree huggers" brush their teeth with store bought toothpaste (yes coal is used to make toothpaste too).
I'm proud to be a West Virginian and part of a coal mining family!