By Riley McCoy
For The Register-Herald
Beckley — Sunshine reflected through downtown Beckley as residents gathered Monday to remember the miners who lost their lives at the Upper Big Branch mine.
The ceremony drew over 50 attendees to the Miners Memorial Garden near Shoemaker Square, adjacent to the Raleigh County Courthouse. There, visitors observed a one minute 29 second moment of silence, and listed to the names of those who perished and joined in prayer.
This year marked the 16th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster — that April 5, 2010, explosion at the Massey Energy owned-mine that killed 29 miners and injured two others in what federal investigators later called a preventable blast and the nation’s deadliest mining accident since 1970.
Bobby and Jeanie Sanger used Monday’s memorial to remember their brother, Benny Willingham, one of the 29 miners killed in the Upper Big Branch disaster.
Sixteen years later, they said, the details that stayed with them were the ones that made him who he was — his faith, his discipline and the kind of work he loved to do.
“[He was a] wonderful, wonderful man and a good Christian. Miss him every day,” the family said.
Bobby Sanger said Benny did heavy manual labor at the mine, ran a roof bolter, shoved rock and carried bags of rock dust and bundles of roof bolts where needed.
“He wanted to do manual labor,” Bobby Sanger said. “That’s what he liked, and that’s what he loved.”
Jeanie Sanger said her brother was five weeks away from retirement when he died.
The family said Benny’s generosity kept surfacing even after his death. At his funeral, the family learned he had helped people quietly, without seeking recognition.
“He just wanted to help,” Jeanie Sanger said, recalling stories that emerged from people Benny had aided on the road and in everyday life.
According to Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce officials, the annual Upper Big Branch remembrance began in 2011 with a ceremony at First Christian Church while the mural and monument were still in development.
Joe Guffey, an information coordinator for the chamber, said the organization remains involved as a way to support miners and preserve the memory of those lost.
“What is remembered lives on,” Guffey said.
As the ceremony reflected on the lives lost, Del. Carl “Bill” Roop, R-Raleigh, said the disaster also led to years of closer study into mine safety and accident prevention.
“I think there’s been a lot of research done,” Roop said. “I think there’s been a lot of looking at what caused the accident, and I think a lot of improvements have been in place by the industry to help avoid these type accidents.”
Roop said the remembrance remained especially meaningful in a coalfield region where nearly every family had some connection to mining.
Beckley Mayor Ryan Neal described underground mining as work few people were willing or able to do and said added safety oversight had not changed the occupation’s basic risks.
“It’s kind of a dangerous job for people to do,” Neal said. “Coal is of huge importance to not just our state but to our country, and it does provide good jobs.”
He added that, even with safety measures put in place and closer scrutiny, “on any given day, you never know what can happen.”
Raleigh County Administrator Jay Quesenberry said the years since Upper Big Branch had brought investigations, studies and additional scrutiny, but the disaster still remains immediate for many in Southern West Virginia.
“It’s like one of those days you remember exactly what you’re doing at the time that afternoon where the calls came in,” Quesenberry said.
He said the ceremony remained important because the miners’ work and sacrifice should not be forgotten.
“You don’t want to forget because they were down there extracting coal for the good of this country,” Quesenberry said. “You have to appreciate the sacrifices they made.”
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