MEMORIES OF A MIRACLE
Saved miners, rescuers and community gather for Quecreek Mine celebration
SOMERSET, Pa. — Robert “Boogie” Pugh doesn’t come back much to this picturesque farmland that still gives him “goosebumps” — 15 years after he and eight others were rescued after spending 78 harrowing hours trapped in a flooded mine.
But Saturday, for the first time in 10 years, he made an exception, if only to thank the many people who had a role in saving his life during the dramatic ordeal that unfolded between July 24-28, 2002.
“I want to see some people who rescued me, a lot of people who prayed for me, and guys I haven’t seen for a long time. My kids are all in. I thought it was a good time to come up to see what’s going on,” he said.
Mr. Pugh and other miners returned to the site Saturday for the 15th anniversary community day celebration to commemorate their miraculous “9 for 9” rescue from the Quecreek Mine.
It was an escape so perilous that much of the world held its breath until each miner — cold, exhausted and famished — was hoisted to safety in a specially designed capsule never used before except in training exercises.
While Mr. Pugh admits the rescue site is not his favorite spot — “I just about died here” — the 15th anniversary isn’t without meaning.
“Well, it’s 15 years I’ve been alive. I like that,” he said. “I mean, we all should have been dead down there. I thank God. He was the 10th man with us. I just appreciate being alive, thanks to the rescue workers and all the people that prayed for us.”
Mr. Pugh, 65, remembers emerging from the shaft drilled 240 feet into the mine chamber and “all those lights hit me. I thought the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl.”
After spending 32 years in dark mines, he now loves mornings and daylight. And he is grateful for what he called his second chance. He didn’t think he would make it.
“I just think people ought to believe in miracles. I never believed in miracles until I was one,” he said.
Unlike Mr. Pugh, Thomas “Tucker” Foy, another of the Quecreek 9, returns every year for the celebration to thank the rescuers and volunteers.
He recalls he and his fellow workers being trapped a mile and a half from the mine entrance clinging to life in a cold, dark air pocket with water up to their necks.
Mr. Foy doesn’t particularly like hearing the story of the rescue because it “brings back too many memories.” But not a day goes by, he said, that he doesn’t think about it. “You never forget it,” he said.
On Saturday, the miners who attended mingled with rescuers and visitors, smiling, answering questions, signing autographs and posing for photos.
The rescue site, overseen by the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation, generates more than 10,000 visitors a year, including tourists who have come from as far as Belgium, Italy and Australia, according to Bill Arnold, the nonprofit’s executive director.
After 15 years, the miners’ story and the way rescuers, volunteers and the community pulled together to save them still resonates with people. Attendance continues to increase each year.
“People aren’t willing to let this fade into history. People want this positive outlook. Peoplewant to know that whenwe pull together as Americans— as humans — fora common goal that we can achieve miraculous things,” Mr. Arnold said. “I think people long for something positive and encouraging in their lives.”
Saturday’s festivities included live music, tours of the site, including the rescue shaft from which the miners emerged, games for kids, and lots of handshakes and pats on the back.
Inside, visitors could touch the capsule that delivered the miners to safety, view other artifacts, retrace a timeline of the rescue and read about the miners themselves.
Among those visiting Saturday was Robert Lemmert Sr. of Cumberland, Md., who has been collecting signatures of miners and rescuers on a miner’s helmet. He watched the events unfold on TV 15 years ago.
“It’s just a miracle they all got out. God provided them a chance to get out, and all the teamwork that was involved,” he said. “It’s inspirational.”
John Unger, another of the miners, has been back to the site about five times over the years.
Now retired, Mr. Unger, 67, said he thinks about what happened every day. “I think mostly about how fortunate I am and what God did for us, saved us all,” he said.
Six months after the rescue, Mr. Unger went back to the section of the mine where he and the others were trapped. The feeling, he told an audience Saturday, was “weird.”
“To sit there and look at everything ... like I said we were very, very lucky,” he recounted. “I mean, they had the best people here to do the job.”
One who doesn’t mind returning to the Somerset County farmland that made history is Mr. Unger’s wife, Sue.
“It doesn’t bother me at all because I know the ending,” she said.