Posted on 01/06/2006 8:31:12 AM PST by Former Military Chick
This letter released by the Toler family on Thursday was written by Martin Toler Jr., who died with 11 other miners in the Sago mine. The note was given to Martin's brother, Tom Toler, by the coroner. It reads "Tell all I see them on the other side JR I love you It wasn't bad just went to sleep."
(Courtesy of the Toler Family / AP)
BUCKHANNON, W. Va (Reuters) - A letter scrawled by one of the 12 miners who died after an explosion trapped them in a West Virginia coal mine offered some comfort to relatives on Friday as the single survivor remained in hospital.
Randal McCloy, who was rescued after more than 40 hours underground, was reported to have emerged from a coma and his wife said he was responding to her and their two children, though doctors were keeping him sedated.
A picture of the note written by Martin Toler Jr. showed rough letters scrawled with an ink pen on a piece of paper signed JR. "Tell all I see them on the other side," he wrote.
"It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep. I love you."
The dead miner's final words were discussed by his nephew, Randy Toler, interviewed on CNN by phone from Tallmansville, a small Appalachian mountain town where the mine is located.
"I think he wanted to set our minds at ease, that he didn't suffer, and I just think that God gave him peace at the end," Randy Toler said.
McCloy was transferred on Thursday to Pittsburgh's Allegheny Hospital for treatment to reduce carbon monoxide levels which doctors fear may have damaged his brain.
His wife Anna told ABC's "Good Morning America" her husband became excited when his two small children visited him after doctors said he was no longer in a coma. "He knows when I'm there, because when I'm there he gets excited and he's trying to lift his eyelids and look at me," she said.
McCloy's mother, Tambra Flint, said on the same program she thought some of the older miners who died might have shared their oxygen supplies with him to save the younger man who had the best chance of survival.
"I have a feeling that they did," she said.
SEVERAL NOTES FOUND
The state's worst mining disaster since 1968 was made more poignant by initial reports saying 12 of the men had survived, prompting three hours of jubilation that quickly turned to despair when the reality became apparent.
Mine authorities have said that several notes were found with the victims but only one had so far been made public. The man who wrote it, Martin Toler, 51, had worked as a coal miner for 32 or 33 years, since he was a teenager, his nephew said.
Asked why young Tallmansville boys go off to work in the mines despite the constant dangers, Randy Toler said: "When you grow up with it and you start at such a young age, when you feel you're invincible, it's an adventure-type thing. You're too young and dumb to worry about a lot of danger ...
"The danger is there, but the nation needs coal. We need energy as well as we need defense. Soldiers put their lives on the line every day and coal miners are the same way," he said.
Randy Toler said he believed other notes found with the miners' bodies were likely written with his uncle's ink pen.
"Coal miners typically don't carry ink pens, just the section boss does. .. and I'm sure he would have directed them to do that. I'm sure he probably told them that it didn't look good and they needed to make peace with their maker."
Toler said his uncle had a pleasant, joyous disposition.
"He was a very jolly, happy person who never displayed any depression or any down moments," Toler said. "He always kept his chin up, always laughing and good-naturedly teasing you.
There has been no explanation for the explosion on Monday at the Sago Mine which employs about 145 miners and produces about 800,000 tonnes of coal annually. Investigators are looking into whether it might be linked to a lightning strike.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration had issued 50 citations to the Sago mine, including some for accumulation of combustible materials such as coal dust and loose coal.
(Additional reporting by Jon Hurdle in Tallmansville, Philip Barbara in Washington)
Please keep this bttt....a must read.
So true.I've said in the past to family and friends that I'd rather die of cancer than a heart attack for that *very* reason....the opportunity to say goodbye and to mend fences.
Sad.
These are amazing men.
Dr. Laura always speaks of coal miners as REAL men, who do whatever it takes to support their families.
"I have a feeling that they did," she said.
To hear of their courage, their devotion to their families, their understanding of what it means to America to have them mining coal........
I surely hope they know of the loving prayers sent their way during the rescue operation and now when they need comfort to deal with their losses.
Dr. Laura's right!
If I were ever in a pinch I would rather have one miner than a whole boat load of John Kerry-Ted Kennedy types.
My step-grandfather was a mining accident investigator.
Wow. I'm just speechless. My heart goes out to these folks.
We should send this to every Democrat in Washington. Of course, their response would be to close all of the mines.
It's cold comfort. It's good that they didn't suffer physically but it must have been really hard on them to know that this was happening to them and know what their families would be going through and they couldn't do anything to stop it. What they did in writing the notes was the best thing they could have done. I'm glad the families know but if I got a note like that, I'd cry for weeks.
I wasn't very hungry but knew I should eat--made some wheat toast. As I was waiting for the toast to pop up and opening a new jar of peanut butter-- I remember saying--out loud--John, this place is so damned empty without you. As I took the lid off the jar, I saw--in the center of the yet undisturbed peanut butter--a perfect little heart.
With tears still streaming down my face I had to laugh-- leave it to my often "nutty" husband to allow our Lord to use peanut butter to Comfort me with a message of love.
Right after John's death, I received many such "messages"--I call them heavenly hugs, and "blessed assurances"--and on John's headstone I had engraved one of the Apostle Paul's most blessed assurances: LOVE NEVER FAILS.
I pray that the miners' families in Tallmansville may be blessed with the precious Comfort Jesus promises to those who mourn, and to those who believe in Him, the most blessed assurance that death is a DEFEATED foe!
bttt
These are tough people, and their families understand the risks associated with their work. I do business in some out-of-the-way places in North America on occasion, and one thing I've noticed is that it's very hard to understand the culture of these places because most Americans look at things through the eyes of an urban/suburban person who is used to dealing with people who work in many different capacities. One unique characteristic of a mining town is that it is exactly that -- a mining town. Everybody in the town -- even those who don't work directly in the mining industry -- knows far more about mining than your average American does.
ping
In the event of something happening to me
there is something I would like you all to see
It's just a photograph of someone that I knew
Have you seen my wife Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones
I keep straining my ears to hear a sound
Maybe someone is digging underground
or have they given up and all gone home to bed
thinking those who once existed must be dead
New York Mining Disaster 1941
This is likely to be the most damning angle to the whole story. Underground coal mines are notorious for their failure to keep up with the removal of coal dust, and I am willing to bet that this was one of the major factors in this incident.
How did he write the note after he went to sleep?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.