Miners' notes: 'Your dad didn't suffer'

AP ^ | Jan 5, 2006 | AP

[wouldntbprudent]

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - Some of the 12 coal miners who died following an explosion left notes behind assuring family members that their final hours trapped underground were not spent in agony, a relative said Thursday.

[nmh]

Yeah, and the other dead they claimed all were alive when 11 were dead. Not sure I believe much the liberal media says ... .

[OldFriend]

Just heard the daughter of one of the lost miners say that when the church bells rang, it must have been ringing for the angels, their family members.

paraphrasing so forgive me

[Thebaddog]

It's a little weird that these extremely personal notes are being splashed all over the media.

[silverleaf]

In situation without much to bring comfort at the onset, this type of message to the family would.

[Gay State Conservative]

Holy Mother of God....that's spooky.Kinda like the answering messages that the relatives of at least a few victims of 9/11 received:

"Hello Mary,this is Jim...I'm on the 102nd Floor of the WTC...things don't look good....take care of the kids...I love you all"

[Trust but Verify]

I agree. I was really hoping that the miners had left notes for their families. I'm sure it will mean everything to those whose who get one. I also hope that young Mr McCloy will share all he can with the families of his co-workers.

[edcoil]

I think we should leave this issue alone and let it stay within each of the families. None of those notes are any of our business.

[silverleaf]

I know from first hand experience the second question you ask is "Did he suffer"?

[Congressman Billybob]

One more example of incompetent reporters. This is not news. Anyone who has ever read about carbon monoxide poisoning knows how it occurs. It is similar in effect to a general anesthic, since it steadily reduces the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to the brain and all other organs.

So, a competent reporter would know that these men slipped into a sleep, and then a coma, and then death, without pain -- since none of them had physical trauma other than the one who died at the scene of the blast. So, reporters who are reporting this "no pain" story now might as well be filing a story which says, "I am really a dummy for not knowing this until I heard about the notes left behind."

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: "Hyenas, Jackals, and Monsters with Microphones"

[wouldntbprudent]

Yes, but soldiers do this all the time---the folded note in the pocket that other soldiers search for when they find you dead.

See the final scene in Saving Private Ryan.

Or the letter one soldier left on his computer: "if you read this, I didn't make it back."

From time immemorial: take a listen sometime to the country song, "Riding With Private Malone."

[wouldntbprudent]

here's a link to give a listen to "Riding With Private Malone"--

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00025L42G/qid=1136486968/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/103-7297388-7695058?s=music&v=glance&n=5174

[Gay State Conservative]

Anyone who has ever read about carbon monoxide poisoning knows how it occurs.

But had it already been established (and revealed) that they didn't die from being crushed by falling rocks or as the result of some explosion?

I haven't followed this story too closely so I honestly don't know the answer.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Carbon monoxide was not the only toxic gas down there. And there is really no way for a coroner to identify soft tissue injuries (e.g. a back injury) that may have occurred at the time of the initial explosion or during the mad scramble to escape the explosion area, that could have had someone in agonizing pain.

[Gay State Conservative]

Yes, but soldiers do this all the time---the folded note in the pocket that other soldiers search for when they find you dead.See the final scene in Saving Private Ryan.

SPR is one of my favorite films and those scenes involving blood soaked notes are vivid in my mind...as is the scene where Wade is transcribing the notes of others so the families wouldn't get the bloody ones.

However,I would think that those notes don't say...can't say...anything like "I didn't suffer" while they all obviously say things like "I love you" and "take care of the kids" and "thank you for being so good to me".

[Congressman Billybob]

The body of one miner, with traumatic injuries, was found first at the scene of the explosion. The other miners, without such injuries, were found barricaded behind a plastic sheet at the far end of the mine shaft, as far as possible away from the location of the explosion. And the test holes dug had shown high amounts of carbon monoxide.

So, yes, all the information necessary to write this particular story was in the hands all the reporters. All they needed was knowledge of monoxide poisoning, and the brains to use that knowledge. The fact that NO reporter wrote this story in advance speaks to a universal lack of either brains, knowledge, or both, among the reporters.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: "Hyenas, Jackals, and Monsters with Microphones"

[Cathy]

I agree - the notes are not our business but apparently the families are sharing the information and the media is all too happy to report it.

These families need to be left alone.

[ErnBatavia]

I think some sailors on the Kursk (Russian sub) also wrote notes.

[LZ_Bayonet]

"Yes, but soldiers do this all the time---the folded note in the pocket that other soldiers search for when they find you dead."

Bad Karma? Would be interesting if the survivor is the only one of the eleven not to have written this type of note.

[WV Mountain Mama]

Not quite right. That can happen especially if the people are already sleeping, but my sister almost died from CO poisoning, and she got violently ill. She called for directions to the closest emergency room and didn't make it out of her room. She got a SEVERE headache, dizzy and knew that because she got so sick so fast, something was terribly wrong.