CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A planned public gathering was shelved on the 10th anniversary of the worst U.S. mining disaster in decades.
Heartfelt speeches gave way Sunday to silent remembrances and individual prayers for the 29 men who died at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted the decision weeks ago to cancel the event. Instead, mourners were allowed to lay wreaths from dusk to dawn at a memorial site in Whitesville, not far from the mine.
Virus scare or not, Tommy Davis was going regardless. Davis was working at the mine on April 5, 2010. He lost a son, brother and a nephew. “This corona is just what it is.