UMWA remembers those lost in Robena Mine explosion
MASONTOWN — A promise made is a promise kept.
That was the message delivered by leaders of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) dedicated to preserving the memory of 37 men who lost their lives 53 years ago in one of the worst coal mining tragedies in the nation’s history at a special memorial service held Sunday at the Robena Monument located on Route 21 near the Hatfield Power Plant in Masontown.
“May I say how much our union admires you, your abilities, your courage and your strength,” said Cecil Roberts, keynote speaker and International president of UMWA, of those in attendance Sunday whose families had endured exceptional losses due to the explosions that day.
“It was a snowy day, a cold day, the last time (those men) walked out of their homes. That was the last time things would be normal. There were 37 homes with a tragedy,” Roberts said. “We come every year because we made a promise that we would never forget, and here we are again today in memory of these wonderful miners … Someday, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary, and we will be here, because when coal miners and those who work in the coal fields make a promise, we keep a promise.
“We say this for two reasons,” Roberts continued. “So that we never repeat a mistake, and in memory of the miners that they may never die. As long as we keep their memory alive, they are not really dead.”
Roberts reminded that while 105,000 miners have lost their lives forging the emerging frontiers of WWI and WWII — by working to provide the cheapest energy source possible to create the strongest and most vibrant economy this nation has ever known necessary to produce steel for tanks and warships — the government continues to fall short of repaying the patriotism mining communities have given selflessly of themselves.
Another 105,000 miners continue to decline in health due to “black lung,” he added.
This year alone, 25 miners have lost their lives as failed government regulations and reckless-operator bankruptcies continue to harm the mining industry, noted Marlon Whoolery, president of the UMWA Local Union No. 1980.
“Our devotion is to God and country, it’s always been there. There’s only one thing we’ve got to ask: What’s going on in our country now? It’s time we demand our country love us as much as we’ve loved it,” said Daniel Kane, UMWA International secretary/treasurer, reminding that coal mining communities have provided the soldiers for World Wars I and II. ”Coal is under attack… Nobody fights like mine workers fight, and we have a fight ahead of us,” he added of the many miners facing unemploymentuncertainties today.
“So as we honor these brave men today, remember tomorrow, we have got to fight.”
Kane reminded that all too often the rich who own stock in mining get rich off the backs of the working man but fail to reinvest in the economy and create safer conditions in which willing men are able to work.
“There’s probably not one person in this room who doesn’t have some story” of a family member lost that day, said Dennis Skinner, who was in attendance Sunday and who was 12 years old and in class when the first explosion erupted
It would be the second blast that claimed the life of his uncle, Allen J. Sanner, that day.
It wasn’t until after he got home from school that his mother grabbed him and his two siblings and headed for the uncle’s home, where his aunt, who was soon to learn that she was a widow, and two cousins anxiously awaited news.
“The second explosion happened right before we got there. My uncle, who worked on the mainline motor crew, had already left the area of the first explosion when the second one happened,” said Skinner, who himself carved a living from the Robena mines and retired in 2006 after working 33 years as a coal miner. “I come every year that I can make (the memorial).”
It was the first time Virginia resident Beth St. Clair Check had been able to attend the memorial service. Her father, John St. Clair, was one of the many who perished that fateful day. She said that due to the fact that a special union fund had been set up to aid the widows created that day, she and her brother were able to attain college degrees.
“It never really replaces your father, but it was a wonderful gesture from the community,” she said.
“There were children who didn’t have a father at the table that night, or someone to be Santa Claus at Christmas. There were wives who had to become the principal breadwinner or principal protector,” said Edward Yankovich Jr., International vice president of UMWA Union No. 1980.
Following a wreath-laying ceremony, Whoolery performed an honorary roll call of all 37 men who lost their lives at 4 Main, 8 Left Section, in the Frosty Run Shaft following an initial explosion at 1 p.m. and a later explosion at 1:25 p.m. that day. The roll call was followed by a 21-gun salute and taps on trumpet performed by members of the Masontown VFW Post 4584.
Invocation and benediction was provided by Father Rodney Torbic of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Carmichaels.
Whoolery’s wife, Penny, performed the National Anthem and Amazing Grace.
Next year’s memorial service will be held at the monument at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6.
” We will be back, and we will be back, and we will never let the memory of your loved ones perish from this earth, ” Roberts said in closing to those in attendance.