well I grew up on bull run between st.
Paul and Colburn with the high school
st. Paul
graduated from clinched Valley College
which is now University of Virginia
twice once I got out of college I made
some work so well I took a job with
Clinchfield as an engineer and once I
got that job I moved into a management
trainee job and from that point on I
worked in the Safety Department several
departments later and later on becoming
a nine fallen superintendent spending
most of my career as superintendent in
82 the coal industries had some tough
times and Critchfield shut down the
yelling branch mine and I was
superintendent and at that time they
transferred me to McClure water the
McClure explosion took place in June of
1983 this was the evening shift and at
the beginning of the shift is basically
a normal shift the only difference other
than what we'd normally does was bumping
a few ribs the code would got higher in
there in my place everything else seemed
to be just a normal shift
well once we got on the section we had
some Rock testing that we need to do in
a return entries so I'd sent a couple of
guys over to take care of the rock dust
and most everything else was just cut
and dry could one place after the other
and bolted except for like I said the
ribbon and at the time of their
explosion I was standing in the end my
place with two employees we were
installing I guess the last of the roof
poles in the real the minor crew had
just they had lost her spotter and the
helper come up me asked me if he could
use my
because they just moved into a place and
I guess before he got back to the minors
and that's what I heard the the big gush
of air that came up the entry and as I
looked out to see what was going on us
standing in front of the fly that was
about eight foot high that fly raised
and went up near the roof and there was
a cream-colored dust and it was it was
sort of warm and then that settled down
that fly fell back down about halfway
and then there's another gunner she came
back and it was black you couldn't see
anything at that time I sent one of the
employees over to the phone to see if
they could get a homely anyone while the
other guys they were hollering off and
wanting to know what was going on and
they went to the man trip and got
herself rescuers later on and I went
back a during this process I went back
to the parrot if he does going to turn
the power off that has a gun trade to do
that I got well might be
somebody out by me needs that power so I
didn't knock I'll look back to them
never hold and the man trip and I
everyone was on a bad trip
so we started out and as we went down
the track
it was dusting there's debris out in the
track some of the guys had her head
stuck out washing for stuff in the track
we had to travel approximately six or
seven hundred feet before we got to the
world the one left paddle had cut into
the bleeders once we got there the hair
cleared up all the dust was in by soar
to the other side so we stopped with me
and one of the guys walked over into the
long wall panel face
for we didn't go very for maybe a couple
of breaks and it was dusty it wasn't any
thing as far as heirs that bothered just
but dusty I was concerned about my
people might I need to get my people
outside so we came back got on a
romantic trip and at that time I was
really concerned about intersection near
the outside of the mines because I was
afraid that's where the problem that
occurred we had two debris on the track
we also had dust in the air
that made it difficult to see and of
course we didn't know what we were
looking for what to expect this this
best was mostly black this is the second
does it begin to settle down so wasn't
moving at the same rate as before but it
was still difficult to see any distance
at all we had the same issue once we
stopped and walked into the long wall
face
we we had to dust we couldn't see very
far so he took us a while to travel from
the section down to word that one left
section cut through to the fresh air we
once - encountered the a fresh air we
felt good and like I said before I was
concerned as to what I was going to find
at the mouth of the section I I was
confident that things were going to get
worse before they got better now one of
the guys did put his on and but I didn't
instruct people to put him on I just
told him I said no guys we took we're
only going to last an hour so let's
think about it and try to get the most
we can out of it once we got to the
elevator bottom my everyone left going
outside except for Ron Ron was acting
super 9 for me that night and I was
telling him that somebody need to go up
to one
two left and check out those guys and he
asked me said will you go back with me
well I told him y'all I'll go back but
let's try to find himself rescuer at
that time I the crew had taken mine
outside and he didn't have one either so
we had to have one up down there or two
what stuff we found the self rescuer we
started back to to left and on the way
to two left would have probably made way
there and we found black black stone on
the track and Blake had a had a spotter
opened up against a British well we stop
and grab Blake and brought him with us
because I gave my spotter to him a lot
of crew so I was tickle to get a spotter
and we took Blake with us well on the
two left when we got in a dog turn and
two left we sing a man trip down there
with the lights on so we stopped I
jumped out and I run up to that man trip
I was going to get on the man trip him
riding on you two to left well when I
put my left hand on that man trip to get
anything it was hot so as no one do this
so I knocked a breaker on the man trip
and we started walking from that point
and we walked up until we got to were
the number four number one entry had
been dropped at that point you could see
the dust moving from right to left it
was real dusty you couldn't see anything
so what we decided in him and we can't
get in this we we can't breathe this so
we thought well we'll go back outside
and we'll have to get my rescue team to
help us but on the way back we realized
that the track was still in number one
left entries so we decided we'd write up
one left and see if we could get back to
two left now that mobile F check us back
to the leaders that are already walked
in to a little bit and we had to walk
across the face so once we got up there
we walked across the face we got where I
think we were probably within two or
three crossed codes of two left at that
time we could hear her blouse hollering
for help so much that then we knew we
had some survivors or at least one
survivor so we went on across and found
miles standing beside the pier
we found the other operator Boyd layin
underneath the t-bar unconscious and we
also found another boy that that was
more or less than shocked he was just
crawling around moving around none of
them all of them had their lights and
her hats blown off so they couldn't see
nothing and of course it was still dusty
but meanwhile before we act before it
actually got to miles
we we found Kofi French laying face down
he was dead he rigor mortis the density
and is when I turned him over he's just
everything turned it was we went ahead
and we found I hear the other guys is on
the section basically in the same shape
except for those survivors then once we
got her but looking around see what we
had we had one guy that miles was burnt
to the point that we couldn't calm him
down can get him to sit down I really
didn't know that he was burnt that bad
but we would set him on a cushion and
while we were trying to look for the
other guys and stuff and miles
get up hollering again but we decided
that Blake and Ron would take miles and
he could walk walk him back across the
face and take him outside and get some
help
and I would stay up with the other team
because I had gone unconscious and I had
another one that was pretty much in
shock but I felt like if I needed to I
knew I had fresh air at the mouth of one
left where I just came from so I felt
like if I see anything heard anything
that concern me I could try to get those
guys back down there to the fresh air or
at least won't happen when Blake
Blackstone came back he he found the
five hats he counted two halves he said
hey we got five hats we got four people
that started the search for the fifth
guy we felt sure they are on earth and
the requirement had been on the man trip
that we had found it mouth of the
section so at that time we realized that
the fifth person was on the section and
I first search we found the fifth one
underneath some tubing beside the matter
and we had accounted for everyone except
for the tube guys that was on the man
trip once we got the life station
survivors to the elevator we went
outside and there my rescue team had
already gathered there was two or three
modern rescue teams there was a couple
of guys at the bottom of the slope once
I got to the top of the elevator they
grabbed me and took me into the
superintendent's office which was
basically the headquarters at that time
and they more or less debriefed me as to
what I'd seen
when I had done
and what I thought we needed to do and
after a short conversation and it was
probably already in the process they
begins in the mine rescue team the
number the two left and it wasn't long
at all until they had hollered out and
said that they'd found them now there
was no communication after the explosion
from the inside to the surface so they
had to wait till someone to come outside
and could tell them what what was going
on well the next month or so really
there's pretty tough we spent the
biggest part of the time recovering the
mines we it was very difficult for their
people to come in we couldn't work them
all we just worked maybe eight or nine
is a time and it was really hard on them
because they didn't sing what I'd think
I'd been there the entire time and I I
could see well we've made a difference
and things were improving but
those guys when you put yourself in
their position they didn't know they
just know what somebody was told him
what did sing in the paper and a lot of
that was didn't correspond with what had
actually happened and of course you
still had those people that lost loved
ones and friends it it was tough for us
I think it was a lot tougher for them
than me not not that I'm any tougher
than them but it's just that I was right
there in it and they they had to walk
into a lot more on loans than I did