On the second anniversary of the Upper Big Branch Disaster we focus upon the tragedy that happened only two years prior. The lives of 29 honest hard working men were lost and their families were left to suffer a life devoid of their love. Their deaths came as an echo from the past, and like many others before them, their lives had been considered expendable by those who pursue vast wealth through egregious profit. This is the modern age of mining, safety was supposed to be better. Unfortunately from offices hundreds of miles from the coalfield, miners are still regarded as numbers on a spreadsheet, overhead, and in some cases as poor unintelligent unsophisticated people who are being blessed with good paying jobs in impoverished regions of our country. Despite what they would have us believe, a coal company's concern for their employees begins and ends with economics.
Today as we hold vigil over the loss of the 29 men of Upper Big Branch, we should also think about the thousands of others whose last breath was drawn in the cold darkness of a coal mine. We should hold within our hearts the many grief stricken sons and daughters, husbands and wives, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grand parents, and friends who must continue on in this life without seeing another smile from their loved one.
Today we must realize that so long as coal is mined for profit more lives will be lost, more funeral homes will be filled with grieving hearts. The only way to break this cycle is to embrace change, to fight for whats right just as our forefathers did. God bless all our nations coal miners past and present and lets all start looking for a better future.
Today as we hold vigil over the loss of the 29 men of Upper Big Branch, we should also think about the thousands of others whose last breath was drawn in the cold darkness of a coal mine. We should hold within our hearts the many grief stricken sons and daughters, husbands and wives, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grand parents, and friends who must continue on in this life without seeing another smile from their loved one.
Today we must realize that so long as coal is mined for profit more lives will be lost, more funeral homes will be filled with grieving hearts. The only way to break this cycle is to embrace change, to fight for whats right just as our forefathers did. God bless all our nations coal miners past and present and lets all start looking for a better future.




