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Service Celebrates 12 Men Who Lost Lives in Sago Mine

Posted on: Monday, 16 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By VICKI SMITH

Service celebrates 12 men who lost lives in Sago Mine

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. The 12 miners who died together beneath the West Virginia hills were remembered Sunday as men who loved their families, God, NASCAR, and a good laugh.

Im sure there was a prayer meeting goin on in that ol coal mine the other evening like weve never seen before, Pastor Wease Day told more than 1,800 people gathered at the memorial service at the West Virginia Wesleyan College chapel.

I can hear Jim Bennett hollerin Boys you need the Lord in your life. And I can hear (George) Junior Hamner say Does anybody got any cards? Lets play a round. I can hear them now, said Day, whose Sago Baptist Church became the center for families and others who gathered to await word of their loved ones after an explosion in the Sago Mine.

Bennett, 61, and Hamner, 54, were among the 12 miners who died after a Jan. 2 explosion as they reopened the mine following a holiday break. Investigators have yet to re-enter the mine to determine what went wrong.

The blast killed one miner immediately and spread carbon monoxide that slowly killed the 11 others as they waited 260 feet below ground for rescue.

The only survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., 26, remained in a coma Sunday at West Virginia Universitys Ruby Memorial Hospital.

McCloys wife, Anna, attended the memorial service and was the first of the miners families to light 13 candles of honor. First lady Gayle Manchin handed each family a statue of a coal miner.

We cannot know the purpose of this tragedy, said Gov. Joe Manchin, but I pledge to you we will determine the cause.

Mike Rose, whose father-in-law was fallen miner Jerry Groves, said during the service that the family takes comfort in knowing that Groves is in a better place, being held in the arms of a loving savior.

Organizers of the service said family and friends had requested that the media not seek comment from them before or after the service.

During the two-hour service a heart-wrenching photo montage showed the men as they were in life husbands, fathers, fishermen and West Virginians who followed a strong tradition of digging coal.

There are no better men than coal miners, said author Homer Hickam, who wrote the memoir Rocket Boys about growing up in a southern West Virginia coal community. The American economy rests on the back of our coal miners. We could not prosper without them.

Outside the church, a miners helmet sat atop a wooden cross.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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