Coal miners were the backbone of this country for a long, long time...steel without coal-nope; railroads without coal-nope; abundant electricity without coal-nope. Coal made this country possible. Thanks to your family's hard work all our lives are easier.
As a man who would rather be educated than entertained, your videos have become some of my favorites. It doesn’t matter if its old Appalachia info, metal detecting in the mountains or any other subject, your videos always teach me something. The eastern Tennessee mountains are our favorite vacation spot since my wife and I both grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina. Thanks for your great videos and please keep up the good work!!
😮this k renea and I have been working in the garden but I sure love watching your shows and aspelly all the animals the medial detecting and I love the woods too I am 75 old I still can do my work thank you good lord❤😊
I love your stories, man. These are stories that will disappear if no one tells them, and the voice of someone who lived it is way better than a second hand voice. Thank you, Donnie.
Thank God for sure wish the umwa was still strong as it once was it sure make the nonunion mines hold a better standard so their people didn't unionize
My grandpaw use to tell us about his coal mining day's, he also worked what he called the owl shift, and said he would be out there in the mines for days at a time idk much about all those days in the mine but he did struggle back then..thanks for sharing your story of your life in the mines I respect all the miners even today that's what kept us warm and cozy on the winter , along with wood but we used alot if coal as well..✌️🙏❤️
My dad put in 33 yrs in the mines. He passed away Dec. 2020 at 86 yr old. He told me many a story about working in the mines. He was in during the 70's also. He worked in a mine near Farmington,WV called Loveridge. I have his old lunch bucket, belt and tag. Miss you Dad, rest in peace your shift is over.
Thank you for telling your story. We take coal miners for granted, but it was an important job. This country ran on coal, now the mines are shutting down and the men’s livelyhood taken from them. Thank you and your brothers for their hard work.
Sending my respect and honor for your labor. This story is so compelling and a genuine testimony to the real men who built America. You are one of them.
My Daddy worked for Linde Aire, in Tulsa Oklahoma. It was a division of Union Carbide. Union Carbide made the Carbide- Calcium Carbide used in the Carbide lamps. Daddy had several of these lamps. We used them when we went to the cellar- you do that quite a bit in Oklahoma. We also used them when we went hunting and fishing. When I saw those Carbide lights in your video seems I could almost smell them! Daddy worked 31 years, he filled cylinders - Oxygen, Acetylene, etc. I thought I'd share that with you. Thank you for another great video, I enjoy them. Reminds me of my relatives, many of them long gone now, but they had so many of the same ways you talk about. My mom's side of the family are Cherokee and Irish. Their Cherokee ancestors came from the Georgia area. They made the trail of tears. My mom's great grandma was Cherokee, Leona Dover. Though she was educated, when she got to Oklahoma she would not accept her roll number and refused to ever speak English again. I remember the stories the old folks told. Keep telling these stories, they are an important, precious part of our history that we are quickly losing. Stay safe and GOD bless.
Thanks brother Donnie 👍 my ancestors were coal miners and my father in-law coal mined for thirty years and has black lung. Us mountain people work hard for our family to get by. Choose Jesus Christ today folks 👍
Donnie, you are an excellent story teller, I enjoy listening to you. This segment on coal mining was very interesting and educational. Thank you for sharing your story :-)
This was incredible Donnie, to learn all about this from someone that lived it is just priceless. I'd read a book, Rocket Boy? (it became a movie), so I only had a glimpse of what it might have been like. I honestly can't imagine how hard the work must have been for you and your friends. Hats off friend. A fine job telling the story, and a fine job touching folks everywhere here and warming the hearts and homes of so many Americans.
I did 3 years low coal about 38 inch seam for united coal for my first mining job after getting black hat..then went on and got a job at a union mine working on the longwall last 12 years and couldn't see myself doing anything else.
Thanks again Mr Donnie for another great video. My daddy worked at a big paper mill in VA for near bought 25 years until he fell ill with cancer bought 25 years ago now. I worked there after he passed for awhile also. I would remember middle of night when I'll be working at the power house part of it, they would bring the coal cars by railroad coming out them ole mountains in the coal yard there in one by one they'd dump the coal in grid or pit in the ground in it would belt out to a big pile. Look like it took forever coal car at a time especially when be cold n raining or snowing at on night shift, ha. I was younger then but I thought it was so cool that that train wood come in there with all that tons of metal n coal like that. Sorry so long Mr Donnie, I was just thinking of that when I was watching ya video. I always appreciate you Sir l really do and I know other fans do also.
Kevin, thanx for the post. If the paper mill was in Covington, I know exactly which one you are talking about. I lived in Roanoke, and went by the mill often on hunting trips to the mountains.
Hello Donnie, coal mining, very hard and dangerous work. I've heard of coal mines having explosions and collapsing trapping men. I know that had to be on every coal miner's mind evertime they entered the mines. God bless the coal miner's. Donnie did you retire from the coal mining industry. Enjoyed the story. God bless
My hunting buddy's father (from Clintwood, VA) told me stories from his times in the coal mines. I remember him telling me about the "sumpin' up" action of the mining machines. Being a city dweller, I had never heard about it before then. You are the real deal, Donnie. Don't ever let anyone accuse you of anything different! You are keeping it 💯! Thank you for this video! 👍😊
My brother-in-law died in the VA coalmine when a rock fell on him, his wife ( my sister ) was pregnant with their 9th child, he was in his 30's My nephew just had a double lung transplant because of black lung.
A good friend i worked in the mines with in Kentucky a roof bolter operator, after our big layoff went to Wise Virginia to work in a Paramount coal mines bolting top and was killed by a roof fall.
Much respect for you Donnie. And Much respect for those hard working men who went down in that mine not knowing if they would see the sunrise the next day.
Another great video! I used to look down on my Appalachian relatives being raised in the SC low country planter class. Now that I’m older I realize that they have more in common with my Irish fathers side of the family than the gentry side of my moms family.
Fascinating video Donnie. There isn't any coal mining in my area of Appalachia so I know very little about the whole process. I admire the hard work you did to provide for your family.
Thanks Tipper. It is a hard life and it's takes it's toll on as you get older. The good Lord has blessed me all them years underground. Thanks for the comment my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 wish the Lord would bring this industry back the way it was im a welder but I come from a coal mining family I live in East TN close to caryville I've wanted to be an underground miner since I was a little boy but their ain't no underground mining anywhere near me I weld to support my family but not a day doesn't go by I don't wish I was underground ive looked into some hard rock mines but id take such a pay cut and it be such a longer commute there ain't no possible way I can do it but maybe I'll get my chance someday and maybe try Industry will come back in my area but thank you along with the people in my family that set the example for me of what a real hard working man is alot of young men in this generation should watch your videos so they know what it means to work by the sweat of your brow like the Lord intended
@@dirttrackdevil1149 I thought you wanted to work in the zinc mines my friend. They was hiring everybody. Close's coal I know that is still running is in Harlan county.
@@donnielaws7020 underground mining in general is something I'd love to do I was gonna try at nyrstar in strawberry plains but some events came up and I can't make that long of a drive but I'm hoping pretty soon I can be able to move closer and get hired on fingers crossed this housing market will cool off soon
Your stories ALWAYS take me back to my child hood. I lived across the street from a coalyard in Ohio. I can remember the MEN leaving at the end of day and they would be couphing and covered in sut😢
I'm a Hatfield from McDowell County W.V. I live in northeast Ohio now but I remember the stories from my pawpaw and my uncles who all spent their working lives in those coal mines! I enjoy your videos and appreciate the work you and many men like you have done for us all! Thank you!
I have new found appreciation for coal miners now. I always new it was a hard, dirty and dangerous job, but to hear it first hand sheds a different light on it. A person always thinks their job was the worst one every, in one way or another, but miners, wow! I would’ve moved, I can’t stand tight places, very low places nor very heigh places. I once went a mile and a half into a gem mine, oh man, it was cold. Ninety five degrees on top but where I was it was forty’s, too cold for me to stay with shorts. I completed what I was there for and I went topside. Take care and be well! Your job was more dangerous than anyone’s job that I personally know. Hats off to all miners.
Wow. I love hearing this stuff. Eventually none of us will be around to tell how it was. Glad you’re keeping history alive. Ty, and we called owl shift graveyard shift 😀
Really liked your comments about working night shift. I too started in the mines in the 70's. Worked for 14 years before finally being laid off and moved on to power plant work. I would have stayed my entire life if I could have, but probably best thing that ever happened to me when I got laid off the last time. UMWA has done so much for so many people.
Donnie, thanks for the awesome video. I'm 62 years old. My dad was born in 1918 in southwest Pennsylvania. I knew he worked in the coal mines at age 16. My dad passed away when I was 20 years old. I never got to have those adult conversations with him about life. I have been studying our family tree and reading documents and looking online at these types of documentaries. At 22 years old dad was still working there. They rented a house from the mining company for $7 a month. My grandfather was a "pumper" and my Uncle was a motorman." When I was about 8 years old my (1968) my dad showed me the mine he used to work at. The entrance was "boarded up" with wood planks. It was long since abandoned and the field where his house was, was long taken back by nature and all that remained was the brick fireplace and chimney. He called his town Lamberton in German Township, Fayette County. Today Lamberton is not listed as a town rather a neighborhood. It was coal mining company property. I get very angry these days when I hear left wing activists and politicians trying to kill the coal mining industry. It is a livelihood for generations of families, and they have no concern for them. When they say "transition" to other energy, it's an outright lie. They shut things down outright and leave good people to fend for themselves as best as they can. THANK YOU for being the backbone of this country and I hope people get to see this. It is an important story. It's OUR history! God Bless!!
You are so right. This country HAS to have coal to survive. We DO NOT have the technology to do away with coal. If we were to close all the mines, 80% of this country would not have any power. You're absolutely right, the left in this country tells nothing but LIE after LIE after LIE. The only thing the left commies want to do in this country is destroy it. That is nothing but the FACTS!!!!!
Loved this video. That shot of those timbers giving out was pretty wild. We have old coal mines all through the hills around here and me and my brother used to play in them when we were kids. We didn’t have no sense lol.
Papaw always talked about how good it was when the drills got clutches. He said the ones he started with would break a man. He said he knew people who died. He had Black Lung. He coughed up coal till the day he died. Despite a hard job, he told a lot of stories about how they managed to have a good time.
Thank you for that video just got done watching it ive moved belt pinned top robbed pillars and longwalled i dont miss it i miss the people again thank you
Virtually a mirror image of myself Donnie, I started in 1980. The only difference being I worked longwall as opposed to stall and pillar as we call it n England. Brilliant films, educational, informative, and interesting 👍
I'm a 5th generation miner from Indiana. I started back in 98'. Worked mines in Ind,I'll, and Longwall in Waynesburg Pa. It's a good living for my family. But I have to agree with Donnie. It stops with me. Thankyou for a great story Mr.Laws I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of people don't know what it takes to make a simple thing such as a light switch work. Once again Thanks.
Was glad to hear about the 40 hours training. I worked at a steel mill. The training was, “watch out”! The labor pool was put in the lowest jobs throughout the mill. That nobody wanted. Newbee hard hat had 2 white stripes, for 1 month. Rotating swing shift every week. 8-12-16 hours a day. It depended on your relief showing up. Late quit? Cold shower! Working around fumes, dust and asbestos, we were on our own. Need a dust mask? Handkerchief! We did get safety glasses. I agree about the remote control. An engineer I knew, died 1 week before his retirement, using a remote controlled locomotive and substandard rail cars from a different mill(to save money). I have traveled around WV, and Pennsylvania, through coal country and the scenery is beautiful. This country should be ashamed for not taking care of the families who mined coal, when this country needed it.
Thank you so much once again for this excellent video. On both sides of my biological family they were miners one half from West Virginia ( the Welsh area) and the other Mica from Spruce Pine, NC. I have no one basically to ask questions to as my only info is coming from Ancestry and one cousin in NC. Looking up the Pine Spruce people. My biological grandfather was asthmatic so didn’t work in the mines for long bc switching into a trade. I can not see our country without the coal business or “ cutting” its use of fossil fuels. My friend who lives in RI showed my husband and l a field of those huge windmills. They just stood there ugly and still. They broke down and there are several reasons why they aren’t back up running( they broke down shortly after being installed, they might be working now , but they stood there for years broken ) . The main reason being money and how difficult replacement parts are to get from Europe where they are made . The second problem is that they kill scores of migrating birds. They sit right up next to the Seconick ( spelling ) River in Portsmouth and right down the road from a bird sanctuary. Not if that is the future of energy in our country , we are really in trouble. I can’t wait for your next video. I learn so much from you and Tipper.
HELLO. SIR. THANK YOU FOR SHARING. !!!! Most all the small coal mines. Now are all filled with water. From the 1800s. In kittatas. County. Cle Elum. Washington. Your. Voice is. Very. Relaxing. And enjoying. Thank you. GREAT. JOB. !!!!! Thank. You. The same area. Where. NORTHERN. EXPOSURE. WAS FILMED. HERE IN. CICELY. ALASKA. !!!!!
Thank you Donnie for showing us the life of a coal miner first hand and the process through video, photos and drawings to get the coal mined. You and your fellow miners have done sometimes dangerous work so we can live comfortably. I Appreciate and Applaude ya'll. 👏 Like someone commented no coal no electricity. After 23 years working underground I understand now why you love spending your time enjoying nature in all of your outdoor activities and I pray that you'll be able to do this for many more years to come. God Bless
@@donnielaws7020 Hey Donnie one thing I'm confused about is what your grandpa Laws did for a living. This video you say he was a coal miner and and in The Ride Home video you say he was a logger. Or did he do both? Thanks and by the way you look just like your dad.
Everybody has two grandfathers. One on the mothers side and one on the fathers side. This one is on my mothers side he was a coal miner. My fathers side was a logger he would not go underground. Both died before I was born.
I did not work in the mines but I worked at a coal transfer from rail to barge we wood open the bottom rail car with hammer and the coal wood Drop in a pit and load on the river you wood be coal black buy the time you go home you spit black and sweat black You could tell ware the coal came from buy the taste Keep up the good work👍👍
Thank you for posting this story Donnie it has rekindled memories from my youth. In the mid-70s, I had met some kids that had moved to our community from a coal mining town. Their father had worked in the coal mines and had developed black lung so they moved here to get away from that. I regret that I had never inquired about the coal mining way of life. After all, I was just a kid. My brothers and I grew up with those kids and had a great relationship with them. They were some of the most genuine people you could ever possibly meet. We had great times with those kids. Their father passed away from complications of black lung and the early 80s. Until I had seen your video this evening I was totally clueless about the operations of mining coal. It is sad in a way that people take energy for granted and have no idea of the blood, sweat and Ttears that goes into powering their cell phones. Thank you for posting this story it is always a pleasure to watch your videos.
You covered so many interesting things with this video Donnie. Thanks for sharing all of that and for letting us get to know you a little better as well. Quite the history for sure. Take care, Char
The Father in law and I would set at the kitchen table for hours loadin' coal, he about the old times and me about the new. As he was headed out he'd apologize to his daughter for dirtying up her kitchen, smile at me and tell me I better rock-dust it for her. He passed at 92 years old. Thanks Donnie for sharing your recollections. Once coal gets in your blood it stays there. Pennsylvania u.g. coal miner.
Amazing video there were a lot of coal mines here in PA. Ever hear of Centralia PA? The coal seam caught on fire under the town and it bad to be abandoned it still burns to this day. Could burn for 1000s of years.
@@donnielaws7020 great channel you have my parents recently retired to Johnson City TN, trying to learn as much as I can about the area. Appalachia has such an interesting history and you tell it so well. God bless.
I bet you remember that old coal mining song 16 tons. Load 16 tons what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt... Tuff way to make a living, that's for sure!
I was a construction worker building 300ft buildings all steal it was hard dam work you learn from old timers or die won wrong step it was a long way down no safety belts then
Bottom line …..Coal miners are some of the bravest and most inspiring people out there in the world - past and present. I drive right past one of the deepest mines in the United States going to work everyday and it gives me pause every time because they are going through what is now a 9 month strike. The company is Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, Alabama . They need to make a deal and put these brave men and women back to work ASAP ✌🏼
Thank you, Mr. Laws. My great grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia. My Grandma would tell us stories about how scared she was when her father was down in the mine when she was a child. My sister and I took her back to West Virginia 23 years ago and thought she would enjoy visiting the Beckley Exhibition Mine. We went in to pay for admission and she flatly refused to go underground until the Good Lord put her there. Needless to say, we did not do the mine tour that day (my sister and I had been as children). The sacrifice these men made and make for their families, and the worries to their families cannot be overstated. Love all your videos. Thank you.
Born in Carbondale PA. Family in the mines, black lung, coal fires, sinking land under your house. We owe the coal industry more for past contribution than we can pay. Thank you for this historic account of life in coal country.
I'm just recently early retired from a power co were my first 3 years was at a Steam Plant. I worked there all hours of the day and night supporting the communications needs .. Thre are places in those plants that humans shouldn't never be and yet they are day in a day out. My father was a railroad man and I still today go watch the Trains ... Watching the trains brings in and dump and repeat. I was once told that an 800 mega watt unit running full load in 24 hours used one train load of coal.. Great video There is a channel that is called Underground Birmingham and Mr tropis 64 that they explore those mines in and around the areas
Thanx Donnie for the video. My Father worked 23 years in the West Virginia mines. He told me one day to never work in a coal mine or join the army. I asked him which was the worst and he said coal mining. My Father was a hand loader for about 15 years then the mines went to mechanical. When he heard the song 16 tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford my Father laughed and said I loaded more coal than 16 tons per shift, he called it "fist and skull work." When people would ask my Father why he worked in the mines, he would laugh and say " I'm a brute for punishment." God bless the coal miners.
I remember you boys talking mining talk as roof bolts, shuttle cars and the 2ft mine vs a 4 ft mine, I listened but had no real idea what you all went through to make a payday. This video put a better perspective for me what you all actually did! And I have always said, you looked like John Travolta, that younger picture proves that.. 👀. Maybe that’s why sis babied you all these 50 years.. 🥰🥰
Donnie, I really enjoyed your story of your coal mining days.Coal miners stick together and that's what counts in the Coal Mining Industry. Thanks For Sharing My Friend 🙂.
Hats off to you Donnie , your co-workers, and all that came before you. Your presentation of this process was amazing. Thank you for the education about this industry. Your friend, Louise
Coal mining has come a long way since the 20's, 30's and 40's when my Grandfather and his two brothers worked the mines in southwestern Pennsylvania. They shared some hair raising stories in their later years. Some of the stories were so devastating that tears flowed when we heard them - fires, explosions, entrapments, and more. But, most of the stories were centered around the camaraderie of the men while working in rather bleak conditions. Not only the fun they had, but the trust they had in each other to stay alive was commendable and absolutely necessary! My sincere thanks to ALL the coal miners who have paved the way and dedicated their lives to the industrialization of America.
I started in the coal mines of southern WVA and SW Va in 1974. This video brings all those memories back as if it was just yesterday! I ended up going to college later and then returned for about 8 years before going to work on the railroad. Like you, I was in the maintenace shop for almost the entire time I worked in the mines. Thanks for an awsome video....most people have no idea what a coal miners life is like!
Sir I truly appreciate this video. I'm from eastern ky. I moved away and went to college. My dad, grandfather and brothers were all coalminers . This took me back to my early days. Thank you
@@donnielaws7020 I do Industrial, Commercial and every once in awhile I do some side jobs that's residential. We do new construction from ground up. I hope to one day be able to say I have been doing it for 48 years! Thats awesome.
Thank you sir for these great videos. My dad died in a mining accident in Manitouwadge Ontario Canada in 1958. He was a scaler for Geco mines. He had no family attend his funeral just his co workers, because me mom and my siblings where in Portugal. We finally came to Canada and visited his grave site 20 years later. I was 2 years old when he died, and I always used to think why did he have to die, but as I got older I realized that thousands of miners lost their lives. God bless all those miners who left us too early. Canada
Just a sad sad story my friend. God Bless you and your family. Yes so many have died over they years in these mines. I hope these miners never to be forgotten for theirs lives lost and the hard dangerous work they done. Sorry for your lost. God Bless.
I'm from a coal miner town in Germany .My gramp worked in a cole mine ,and also had two fingers missing .It sound pretty much the same like the things he told me . Respect that you have done that dangerous and hard work .I hope someday they'll respect workers more ,they're the people who keep a society working .Unfortunatly many educated people think they're better .
Another absolutely amazing video! I honestly knew nothing about coal mining and now I'm going to spend tomorrow doing more research! It's fascinating! ❤
Im a miner to this day. Although in limestone in the Appalachias, I recognize everything in this amazing video. Even the w-65 that we're still required to carry. Nothing but respect to all miners everywhere, past and present.
THANK YOU MINER FOR YOUR STORY....MY grandfather worked the mines when he was 13 up till he was 16 or 17 in eastern Kentucky. .I have family from prestonsburg Kentucky Down to Tennessee..I'm a Truck Driver ...Semi Trucks Run my Veins ,, I've always wanted to be a coal miner I don't know why I guess it's just in my blood and I've never even been in a coal mine .. Daddy hauled coal back in the sixties and seventies in Kentucky they lived in Ironton Ohio. Across the river from Ashland I was born in Ironton raised in South Point Ohio then we moved to Tennessee when I was 8 years old never got the chance to be a miner
@@donnielaws7020 well my words didn't spell right so it looks like I'm an idiot LOL...my Grandfather Took dad and and my grandma and they got on route 23 you know the three Rs Readin Rightin and route 23 ..They made it to Ashland KY and crossed over the Ohio river there into Ironton Pawpaw said well this looks like a good place to just stop here.... So they set up shop he bought some land and he started buying big trucks my dad hauled Coal when he was 17 ...Some of my words didn't come out right I was tired last night....We Live in Southeast Tenn near Cleveland Tenn Sorta ...Ocoee to be exact . Near the North Carolina line...I started Truckin' when I was 18 back in 94' . I'm still Truckin'...I love it..I Haul chicken outta the Southeast to California and Produce back... Chicken Truck That Moves Produce coast to coast....I have a stretched Out Long nose 2021 Peterbilt 389... Peace ✌️ Love 💕 and 18 Wheelz to Ya Hero..God Bless ..Dear Lord 🙏 Take Care Of Everyone down here on Earth 🌎 this Christmas ⛄ season, In God We Trust...In the Name of The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit Amen 🙏
@@donnielaws7020 I tell my friends I have lil Peterbilts and Kenworth W-9s in my blood ,They haul the blood molecules to all the extremities throughout my body with tiny Stainless Steel Spread Axle Reefer Trailers . lol 🤣🤣...I watch stuff about them Mines on RUclips all the time...Have You heard . Bootleg Miner By Van Wagner ..U should look it up on the RUclips ..He's from the anthracite coal region. Shamokin Pa.... Anywayz I'll leave ya alone now...God Bless My Friend .....
I would love to hear more stories when you were in the mines . I loved listening to this . I shovels a lot of coal in the early 2000 on the tallest Montain in West Virginia . I love to hear how things were .
This is SUCH an important history for our whole country to know. Thank you for preserving this history! I also hope that people know about the wonderful movements underway in Appalachia right now to transfer over to renewable energy and build good paying green jobs to support all the former coal miners and their families. These are wonderful and hard-working folks, and the country owes it to them to try to take care of them. With love and respect! #GoUnion! #UMW
Coal miners were the backbone of this country for a long, long time...steel without coal-nope; railroads without coal-nope; abundant electricity without coal-nope. Coal made this country possible. Thanks to your family's hard work all our lives are easier.
That's so true. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
As I go to work this evening at the coal mine I'll help keep that backbone of the country going it's still there
@@Clawson_customs Amen my friend. Please take care. I will be always thinking of you guys.
Every one of us relied on coal whether they realized it or not.
We still rely on coal today in order to power the electric grid.
As a man who would rather be educated than entertained, your videos have become some of my favorites. It doesn’t matter if its old Appalachia info, metal detecting in the mountains or any other subject, your videos always teach me something. The eastern Tennessee mountains are our favorite vacation spot since my wife and I both grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina. Thanks for your great videos and please keep up the good work!!
WOW! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
😮this k renea and I have been working in the garden but I sure love watching your shows and aspelly all the animals the medial detecting and I love the woods too I am 75 old I still can do my work thank you good lord❤😊
I’m exactly the same way. I’m absolutely hooked on this channel.
I love your stories, man. These are stories that will disappear if no one tells them, and the voice of someone who lived it is way better than a second hand voice. Thank you, Donnie.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
This is very true God 🙏 you all
@@bobtaylor3010 Thank you friend.
Bless your soul.
All the dangerous, hard work previous generations have done just so we could all live.
Makes me appreciate my life so much more.
Thanks for sharing my friend.
It was a hard life. For sure. Thank God for the Union, it saved many a Miner's life. I always enjoy your stories, Donnie!💖
It sure did and much more. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank God for sure wish the umwa was still strong as it once was it sure make the nonunion mines hold a better standard so their people didn't unionize
@@Clawson_customs Thank you my friend and God bless you.
This is one of very FEW occupations in this country that need a actual union. Sorry, just FACTS...
My grandpaw use to tell us about his coal mining day's, he also worked what he called the owl shift, and said he would be out there in the mines for days at a time idk much about all those days in the mine but he did struggle back then..thanks for sharing your story of your life in the mines I respect all the miners even today that's what kept us warm and cozy on the winter , along with wood but we used alot if coal as well..✌️🙏❤️
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My dad put in 33 yrs in the mines. He passed away Dec. 2020 at 86 yr old. He told me many a story about working in the mines. He was in during the 70's also. He worked in a mine near Farmington,WV called Loveridge. I have his old lunch bucket, belt and tag. Miss you Dad, rest in peace your shift is over.
So sorry my friend. I know the feeling with my dad. God Bless.
I stand and tip me hat to you Sir, thank you for sharing a part of your life and the land that you're so committed and connected to...ATB
I appreciate that my friend.
Thank you for telling your story. We take coal miners for granted, but it was an important job. This country ran on coal, now the mines are shutting down and the men’s livelyhood taken from them. Thank you and your brothers for their hard work.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Sending my respect and honor for your labor. This story is so compelling and a genuine testimony to the real men who built America. You are one of them.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My Daddy worked for Linde Aire, in Tulsa Oklahoma. It was a division of Union Carbide. Union Carbide made the Carbide- Calcium Carbide used in the Carbide lamps. Daddy had several of these lamps. We used them when we went to the cellar- you do that quite a bit in Oklahoma. We also used them when we went hunting and fishing. When I saw those Carbide lights in your video seems I could almost smell them! Daddy worked 31 years, he filled cylinders - Oxygen, Acetylene, etc. I thought I'd share that with you. Thank you for another great video, I enjoy them. Reminds me of my relatives, many of them long gone now, but they had so many of the same ways you talk about. My mom's side of the family are Cherokee and Irish. Their Cherokee ancestors came from the Georgia area. They made the trail of tears. My mom's great grandma was Cherokee, Leona Dover. Though she was educated, when she got to Oklahoma she would not accept her roll number and refused to ever speak English again. I remember the stories the old folks told. Keep telling these stories, they are an important, precious part of our history that we are quickly losing. Stay safe and GOD bless.
Thanks for sharing your story my friend.
Thanks brother Donnie 👍 my ancestors were coal miners and my father in-law coal mined for thirty years and has black lung. Us mountain people work hard for our family to get by. Choose Jesus Christ today folks 👍
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie, you are an excellent story teller, I enjoy listening to you. This segment on coal mining was very interesting and educational. Thank you for sharing your story :-)
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
This was incredible Donnie, to learn all about this from someone that lived it is just priceless. I'd read a book, Rocket Boy? (it became a movie), so I only had a glimpse of what it might have been like. I honestly can't imagine how hard the work must have been for you and your friends. Hats off friend. A fine job telling the story, and a fine job touching folks everywhere here and warming the hearts and homes of so many Americans.
Thank you so much my friend. Thanks for sharing tis.
I did 3 years low coal about 38 inch seam for united coal for my first mining job after getting black hat..then went on and got a job at a union mine working on the longwall last 12 years and couldn't see myself doing anything else.
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks again Mr Donnie for another great video. My daddy worked at a big paper mill in VA for near bought 25 years until he fell ill with cancer bought 25 years ago now. I worked there after he passed for awhile also. I would remember middle of night when I'll be working at the power house part of it, they would bring the coal cars by railroad coming out them ole mountains in the coal yard there in one by one they'd dump the coal in grid or pit in the ground in it would belt out to a big pile. Look like it took forever coal car at a time especially when be cold n raining or snowing at on night shift, ha. I was younger then but I thought it was so cool that that train wood come in there with all that tons of metal n coal like that. Sorry so long Mr Donnie, I was just thinking of that when I was watching ya video. I always appreciate you Sir l really do and I know other fans do also.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Kevin, thanx for the post. If the paper mill was in Covington, I know exactly which one you are talking about. I lived in Roanoke, and went by the mill often on hunting trips to the mountains.
Hello Donnie, coal mining, very hard and dangerous work. I've heard of coal mines having explosions and collapsing trapping men. I know that had to be on every coal miner's mind evertime they entered the mines. God bless the coal miner's. Donnie did you retire from the coal mining industry. Enjoyed the story. God bless
Yes and went on to other places. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My hunting buddy's father (from Clintwood, VA) told me stories from his times in the coal mines. I remember him telling me about the "sumpin' up" action of the mining machines. Being a city dweller, I had never heard about it before then. You are the real deal, Donnie. Don't ever let anyone accuse you of anything different! You are keeping it 💯! Thank you for this video! 👍😊
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My brother-in-law died in the VA coalmine when a rock fell on him, his wife ( my sister ) was pregnant with their 9th child, he was in his 30's My nephew just had a double lung transplant because of black lung.
That's so sad my friend. A lot of good man died in this old mines.
A good friend i worked in the mines with in Kentucky a roof bolter operator, after our big layoff went to Wise Virginia to work in a Paramount coal mines bolting top and was killed by a roof fall.
Much respect for you Donnie. And Much respect for those hard working men who went down in that mine not knowing if they would see the sunrise the next day.
Thank you friend.
Another great video! I used to look down on my Appalachian relatives being raised in the SC low country planter class. Now that I’m older I realize that they have more in common with my Irish fathers side of the family than the gentry side of my moms family.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Fascinating video Donnie. There isn't any coal mining in my area of Appalachia so I know very little about the whole process. I admire the hard work you did to provide for your family.
Thanks Tipper. It is a hard life and it's takes it's toll on as you get older. The good Lord has blessed me all them years underground. Thanks for the comment my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 wish the Lord would bring this industry back the way it was im a welder but I come from a coal mining family I live in East TN close to caryville I've wanted to be an underground miner since I was a little boy but their ain't no underground mining anywhere near me I weld to support my family but not a day doesn't go by I don't wish I was underground ive looked into some hard rock mines but id take such a pay cut and it be such a longer commute there ain't no possible way I can do it but maybe I'll get my chance someday and maybe try Industry will come back in my area but thank you along with the people in my family that set the example for me of what a real hard working man is alot of young men in this generation should watch your videos so they know what it means to work by the sweat of your brow like the Lord intended
@@dirttrackdevil1149 I thought you wanted to work in the zinc mines my friend. They was hiring everybody. Close's coal I know that is still running is in Harlan county.
@@donnielaws7020 underground mining in general is something I'd love to do I was gonna try at nyrstar in strawberry plains but some events came up and I can't make that long of a drive but I'm hoping pretty soon I can be able to move closer and get hired on fingers crossed this housing market will cool off soon
@@dirttrackdevil1149 I completely understand my friend.
Your stories ALWAYS take me back to my child hood. I lived across the street from a coalyard in Ohio. I can remember the MEN leaving at the end of day and they would be couphing and covered in sut😢
Thanks for sharing my friend.
I'm a Hatfield from McDowell County W.V. I live in northeast Ohio now but I remember the stories from my pawpaw and my uncles who all spent their working lives in those coal mines! I enjoy your videos and appreciate the work you and many men like you have done for us all! Thank you!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Buddy I’m stuck here in Oh missing SE Ky I know that much. Work or not I miss my kin and the mountains
I see the trains full of coal pass through all the time. I will be looking at them in a different light now. Thanks for another great story.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank yall for what ypu do and have done. Hard work and dangerous. Yall have earned every penny and deserve more.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Coal Miners, Steel Workers, Iron Workers, Oil Drilling Workers. We are a special breed. But I have to give my respect to The Coal Miner.
Well said! Thanks for sharing my friend.
I have new found appreciation for coal miners now. I always new it was a hard, dirty and dangerous job, but to hear it first hand sheds a different light on it. A person always thinks their job was the worst one every, in one way or another, but miners, wow! I would’ve moved, I can’t stand tight places, very low places nor very heigh places.
I once went a mile and a half into a gem mine, oh man, it was cold. Ninety five degrees on top but where I was it was forty’s, too cold for me to stay with shorts. I completed what I was there for and I went topside. Take care and be well!
Your job was more dangerous than anyone’s job that I personally know. Hats off to all miners.
Thank you. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Wow. I love hearing this stuff. Eventually none of us will be around to tell how it was. Glad you’re keeping history alive.
Ty, and we called owl shift graveyard shift 😀
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you for this video Donnie!
In 1981 we lost 13 miners here where I live in Tennessee because of an explosion, They were 3 miles deep I believe!
That is a sad reality my friend. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Yes ,I remember this being on the news we were here in Az. Just glued to the news about it !! 🐦
Was that in Whitwill TN
Really liked your comments about working night shift. I too started in the mines in the 70's. Worked for 14 years before finally being laid off and moved on to power plant work. I would have stayed my entire life if I could have, but probably best thing that ever happened to me when I got laid off the last time. UMWA has done so much for so many people.
Amen my friend. I have worked a total of 20 years on the owl shift. Thanks for sharing my friend.
The union has done a lot for the miners. If you want to learn more, I suggest you read the book Bloodletting in Appalachia.
Donnie, thanks for the awesome video. I'm 62 years old. My dad was born in 1918 in southwest Pennsylvania. I knew he worked in the coal mines at age 16. My dad passed away when I was 20 years old. I never got to have those adult conversations with him about life. I have been studying our family tree and reading documents and looking online at these types of documentaries. At 22 years old dad was still working there. They rented a house from the mining company for $7 a month. My grandfather was a "pumper" and my Uncle was a motorman." When I was about 8 years old my (1968) my dad showed me the mine he used to work at. The entrance was "boarded up" with wood planks. It was long since abandoned and the field where his house was, was long taken back by nature and all that remained was the brick fireplace and chimney. He called his town Lamberton in German Township, Fayette County. Today Lamberton is not listed as a town rather a neighborhood. It was coal mining company property. I get very angry these days when I hear left wing activists and politicians trying to kill the coal mining industry. It is a livelihood for generations of families, and they have no concern for them. When they say "transition" to other energy, it's an outright lie. They shut things down outright and leave good people to fend for themselves as best as they can. THANK YOU for being the backbone of this country and I hope people get to see this. It is an important story. It's OUR history! God Bless!!
Awesome my friend. God bless you. Thanks so much for sharing your story and memories. God bless the coal miner. Thank you friend.
You are so right. This country HAS to have coal to survive. We DO NOT have the technology to do away with coal. If we were to close all the mines, 80% of this country would not have any power. You're absolutely right, the left in this country tells nothing but LIE after LIE after LIE. The only thing the left commies want to do in this country is destroy it. That is nothing but the FACTS!!!!!
Loved this video. That shot of those timbers giving out was pretty wild. We have old coal mines all through the hills around here and me and my brother used to play in them when we were kids. We didn’t have no sense lol.
Your were lucky. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Papaw always talked about how good it was when the drills got clutches. He said the ones he started with would break a man. He said he knew people who died. He had Black Lung. He coughed up coal till the day he died. Despite a hard job, he told a lot of stories about how they managed to have a good time.
So sorry my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 Thank you
@@kd6836 Your welcome friend.
Thank you for that video just got done watching it ive moved belt pinned top robbed pillars and longwalled i dont miss it i miss the people again thank you
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 yes sir watch your videos every day keep up the good work
@@douglasmuncy8507 Thank you.
When yall got to take lunch if yall got to take lunch did yall say dinner or lunch we always called it dinner
@@douglasmuncy8507 Mostly called it a Dinner break. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Virtually a mirror image of myself Donnie, I started in 1980. The only difference being I worked longwall as opposed to stall and pillar as we call it n England. Brilliant films, educational, informative, and interesting 👍
WOW, Thanks. Thanks so much for sharing my friend.
I want to thank your grandfather, father and you for your sacrifices in helping me and all others warm in the winter.
Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I'm a 5th generation miner from Indiana. I started back in 98'. Worked mines in Ind,I'll, and Longwall in Waynesburg Pa. It's a good living for my family. But I have to agree with Donnie. It stops with me. Thankyou for a great story Mr.Laws I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of people don't know what it takes to make a simple thing such as a light switch work. Once again Thanks.
Thank you friend for sharing this. Your very welcome. God bless you.
Was glad to hear about the 40 hours training. I worked at a steel mill. The training was, “watch out”! The labor pool was put in the lowest jobs throughout the mill. That nobody wanted. Newbee hard hat had 2 white stripes, for 1 month. Rotating swing shift every week. 8-12-16 hours a day. It depended on your relief showing up. Late quit? Cold shower! Working around fumes, dust and asbestos, we were on our own. Need a dust mask? Handkerchief! We did get safety glasses. I agree about the remote control. An engineer I knew, died 1 week before his retirement, using a remote controlled locomotive and substandard rail cars from a different mill(to save money).
I have traveled around WV, and Pennsylvania, through coal country and the scenery is beautiful. This country should be ashamed for not taking care of the families who mined coal, when this country needed it.
Howdy Donnie- thank you so much for sharing coal mining experiences. I never had a hankering to go under ground. Take care and God bless y’all
Thanks, you too my friend.
I spent 38 yrs underground. I worked in 26 inches Up to 50ft
I feel for you my friend.
Thank you so much once again for this excellent video. On both sides of my biological family they were miners one half from West Virginia ( the Welsh area) and the other Mica from Spruce Pine, NC. I have no one basically to ask questions to as my only info is coming from Ancestry and one cousin in NC. Looking up the Pine Spruce people. My biological grandfather was asthmatic so didn’t work in the mines for long bc switching into a trade.
I can not see our country without the coal business or “ cutting” its use of fossil fuels. My friend who lives in RI showed my husband and l a field of those huge windmills. They just stood there ugly and still. They broke down and there are several reasons why they aren’t back up running( they broke down shortly after being installed, they might be working now , but they stood there for years broken ) . The main reason being money and how difficult replacement parts are to get from Europe where they are made . The second problem is that they kill scores of migrating birds. They sit right up next to the Seconick ( spelling ) River in Portsmouth and right down the road from a bird sanctuary. Not if that is the future of energy in our country , we are really in trouble.
I can’t wait for your next video. I learn so much from you and Tipper.
WOW! Thank you friend for this comment. God Bless.
God bless you and your family as well.
@@d.l.n.7133 Thank you friend.
VERY GOOD STORY........I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE A COAL MINER--
Now you do. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I was a Union Business Agent for SEIU. I'm happy that you recognize and give credit to your union for their actions. Love your stuff Donnie,
Thanks for sharing my friend.
HELLO. SIR. THANK YOU FOR SHARING. !!!! Most all the small coal mines. Now are all filled with water. From the 1800s. In kittatas. County. Cle Elum. Washington. Your. Voice is. Very. Relaxing. And enjoying. Thank you. GREAT. JOB. !!!!! Thank. You. The same area. Where. NORTHERN. EXPOSURE. WAS FILMED. HERE IN. CICELY. ALASKA. !!!!!
Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. Your very welcome.
Thank you Donnie for showing us the life of a coal miner first hand and the process through video, photos and drawings to get the coal mined. You and your fellow miners have done sometimes dangerous work so we can live comfortably. I Appreciate and Applaude ya'll. 👏 Like someone commented no coal no electricity. After 23 years working underground I understand now why you love spending your time enjoying nature in all of your outdoor activities and I pray that you'll be able to do this for many more years to come. God Bless
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend. God Bless.
@@donnielaws7020 Hey Donnie one thing I'm confused about is what your grandpa Laws did for a living. This video you say he was a coal miner and and in The Ride Home video you say he was a logger. Or did he do both? Thanks and by the way you look just like your dad.
Everybody has two grandfathers. One on the mothers side and one on the fathers side. This one is on my mothers side he was a coal miner. My fathers side was a logger he would not go underground. Both died before I was born.
Thank you for sharing! We appreciate you and all our hardworking coal miners....past and present! ❤🙏
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I did not work in the mines but I worked at a coal transfer from rail to barge we wood open the bottom rail car with hammer and the coal wood
Drop in a pit and load on the river you wood be coal black buy the time you go home you spit black and sweat black
You could tell ware the coal came from buy the taste
Keep up the good work👍👍
WOW, Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 what a learning lesson from that story thank you
@@longhunter1975 Thank you.
How many kids today do you think would last at that job Donnie
No many I would think my friend.
Thank you Donnie for sharing your story of working in the mines.
Your very welcome.
Thank you for posting this story Donnie it has rekindled memories from my youth. In the mid-70s, I had met some kids that had moved to our community from a coal mining town. Their father had worked in the coal mines and had developed black lung so they moved here to get away from that. I regret that I had never inquired about the coal mining way of life. After all, I was just a kid. My brothers and I grew up with those kids and had a great relationship with them. They were some of the most genuine people you could ever possibly meet. We had great times with those kids. Their father passed away from complications of black lung and the early 80s. Until I had seen your video this evening I was totally clueless about the operations of mining coal. It is sad in a way that people take energy for granted and have no idea of the blood, sweat and Ttears that goes into powering their cell phones. Thank you for posting this story it is always a pleasure to watch your videos.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
You covered so many interesting things with this video Donnie. Thanks for sharing all of that and for letting us get to know you a little better as well. Quite the history for sure. Take care, Char
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
The Father in law and I would set at the kitchen table for hours loadin' coal, he about the old times and me about the new. As he was headed out he'd apologize to his daughter for dirtying up her kitchen, smile at me and tell me I better rock-dust it for her. He passed at 92 years old. Thanks Donnie for sharing your recollections. Once coal gets in your blood it stays there. Pennsylvania u.g. coal miner.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I logged in Oregon for many yrs! Same deal! Don’t no if today will be your day your card gets pulled! That’s y loggers play hard on your days off!!!😜
WOW Thanks for sharing this my friend.
Excellent story.
You all are national heros.
Thank You Sir.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Amazing video there were a lot of coal mines here in PA. Ever hear of Centralia PA? The coal seam caught on fire under the town and it bad to be abandoned it still burns to this day. Could burn for 1000s of years.
I have seen that. That is so sad and stupid to have happened. Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 great channel you have my parents recently retired to Johnson City TN, trying to learn as much as I can about the area. Appalachia has such an interesting history and you tell it so well. God bless.
@@NYPrepper Thank you my friend.
I bet you remember that old coal mining song 16 tons. Load 16 tons what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt... Tuff way to make a living, that's for sure!
Ant the truth my friend.
I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE SO PASSION TOWARDS THE PEOPLE AND THE MOUNTAINS ...................
Thank you for saying my friend.
I hope someday you might tell of the weird and unexplainable things you saw while in the mine. Thank you for making this video.
Already have my friend. Look in the channel videos.
No words. Unimaginable. You have earned those mountains.💚
Wow, thank you
Still enjoying all of your stories.
Any more stories about that Finger Mashin Ford?
Later my friend. Thank you.
👍🏽🍁11/30/2021👌🏼🎃 much respect to coal miners!! ⏳⌛then and now!! 🤔🍂much respect to all workers of "serious" jobs> everywhere~always!♾ peace🕊
Thank you very much friend.
I love all your stories from our mountains. You are a very wise man.
Glad you like them! Thanks for sharing my friend.
I left Mining in 1994 after 15 years in British mines. Once a Miner always a Miner. Great Video
Amen my friend. God bless you.
Hard work men ,GOD BLESS THEM ALL
AND THANK YOU ALL.
Thank you! Your very welcome my friend.
“ my daddy and his daddy too , died before theys Old , I won’t die one day at a time for black fools gold “. ( Bobby Goldsboro ‘ Black Fools Gold ‘ )
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Mr. Donnie, This was REALLY interesting!!! I learned alot THANK YOU so much
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My father worked in the mines ? 12 hour shifts I lost him ? I know its hard 👷 work an dangerous ? I sure miss Donnie.
Sorry to hear that my friend. God Bless.
I was a construction worker building 300ft buildings all steal it was hard dam work you learn from old timers or die won wrong step it was a long way down no safety belts then
WOW, Thanks for sharing my friend.
Bottom line …..Coal miners are some of the bravest and most inspiring people out there in the world - past and present. I drive right past one of the deepest mines in the United States going to work everyday and it gives me pause every time because they are going through what is now a 9 month strike. The company is Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, Alabama . They need to make a deal and put these brave men and women back to work ASAP ✌🏼
Amen my friend. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you, Mr. Laws. My great grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia. My Grandma would tell us stories about how scared she was when her father was down in the mine when she was a child. My sister and I took her back to West Virginia 23 years ago and thought she would enjoy visiting the Beckley Exhibition Mine. We went in to pay for admission and she flatly refused to go underground until the Good Lord put her there. Needless to say, we did not do the mine tour that day (my sister and I had been as children). The sacrifice these men made and make for their families, and the worries to their families cannot be overstated.
Love all your videos. Thank you.
Your very welcome my friend. Thank you. God bless you.
Born in Carbondale PA. Family in the mines, black lung, coal fires, sinking land under your house. We owe the coal industry more for past contribution than we can pay. Thank you for this historic account of life in coal country.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
God bless you mr laws and all the other miners present and past ty for keeping us warm and the power on god bless you all 😊
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Lord have mercy. God protect coal miners!
Amen my friend. Thanks for sharing.
i like this guy's voice
Great job, 👍 much appreciated ✌️
Thank you friend.
I'm just recently early retired from a power co were my first 3 years was at a Steam Plant. I worked there all hours of the day and night supporting the communications needs .. Thre are places in those plants that humans shouldn't never be and yet they are day in a day out. My father was a railroad man and I still today go watch the Trains ... Watching the trains brings in and dump and repeat. I was once told that an 800 mega watt unit running full load in 24 hours used one train load of coal.. Great video There is a channel that is called Underground Birmingham and Mr tropis 64 that they explore those mines in and around the areas
Wow. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I worked at number 8 tipple in big rock Virginia back in the early 80’s brings back memories
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanx Donnie for the video. My Father worked 23 years in the West Virginia mines. He told me one day to never work in a coal mine or join the army. I asked him which was the worst and he said coal mining. My Father was a hand loader for about 15 years then the mines went to mechanical. When he heard the song 16 tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford my Father laughed and said I loaded more coal than 16 tons per shift, he called it "fist and skull work." When people would ask my Father why he worked in the mines, he would laugh and say " I'm a brute for punishment." God bless the coal miners.
I had my son do the same my friend. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
I remember you boys talking mining talk as roof bolts, shuttle cars and the 2ft mine vs a 4 ft mine, I listened but had no real idea what you all went through to make a payday. This video put a better perspective for me what you all actually did! And I have always said, you looked like John Travolta, that younger picture proves that.. 👀. Maybe that’s why sis babied you all these 50 years.. 🥰🥰
She never babied me that's for sure. Thanks so much for commenting Joyce. Please take care and God Bless.
Donnie, I really enjoyed your story of your coal mining days.Coal miners stick together and that's what counts in the Coal Mining Industry. Thanks For Sharing My Friend 🙂.
Your very welcome. thanks for sharing my friend.
4th generation miner here. Graduated high school in 1977, went to work the day after.
Bless you friend. I know the feeling.
Thank you Donnie you are a rock star..very interesting..i learned a lot today
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Hats off to you Donnie , your co-workers, and all that came before you. Your presentation of this process was amazing. Thank you for the education about this industry. Your friend, Louise
Thank you Donnie for sharing this. For ALL the great American's such as you brother! What made this country great!🇺🇲
Thank you friend. Your very welcome. God bless you.
Coal mining has come a long way since the 20's, 30's and 40's when my Grandfather and his two brothers worked the mines in southwestern Pennsylvania. They shared some hair raising stories in their later years. Some of the stories were so devastating that tears flowed when we heard them - fires, explosions, entrapments, and more. But, most of the stories were centered around the camaraderie of the men while working in rather bleak conditions. Not only the fun they had, but the trust they had in each other to stay alive was commendable and absolutely necessary! My sincere thanks to ALL the coal miners who have paved the way and dedicated their lives to the industrialization of America.
I started in the coal mines of southern WVA and SW Va in 1974. This video brings all those memories back as if it was just yesterday! I ended up going to college later and then returned for about 8 years before going to work on the railroad. Like you, I was in the maintenace shop for almost the entire time I worked in the mines. Thanks for an awsome video....most people have no idea what a coal miners life is like!
Your right most don't have a clue. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you ,Donnie, for sharing your experience in the Cole mine.
God bless.
Sir I truly appreciate this video. I'm from eastern ky. I moved away and went to college. My dad, grandfather and brothers were all coalminers . This took me back to my early days. Thank you
I am an Electrician, I enjoy learning and hearing about the mines and your stories. Keep em coming brother.
I have been to for 48 years in all aspects of it. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@donnielaws7020 I do Industrial, Commercial and every once in awhile I do some side jobs that's residential. We do new construction from ground up. I hope to one day be able to say I have been doing it for 48 years! Thats awesome.
@@CAMCLIPS01 Thanks friend. I mostly done industrial and High voltage.
Thank you sir for these great videos. My dad died in a mining accident in Manitouwadge Ontario Canada in 1958. He was a scaler for Geco mines. He had no family attend his funeral just his co workers, because me mom and my siblings where in Portugal. We finally came to Canada and visited his grave site 20 years later.
I was 2 years old when he died, and I always used to think why did he have to die, but as I got older I realized that thousands of miners lost their lives. God bless all those miners who left us too early. Canada
Just a sad sad story my friend. God Bless you and your family. Yes so many have died over they years in these mines. I hope these miners never to be forgotten for theirs lives lost and the hard dangerous work they done. Sorry for your lost. God Bless.
I'm from a coal miner town in Germany .My gramp worked in a cole mine ,and also had two fingers missing .It sound pretty much the same like the things he told me .
Respect that you have done that dangerous and hard work .I hope someday they'll respect workers more ,they're the people who keep a society working .Unfortunatly many educated people think they're better .
So true. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Another absolutely amazing video! I honestly knew nothing about coal mining and now I'm going to spend tomorrow doing more research! It's fascinating! ❤
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Im a miner to this day. Although in limestone in the Appalachias, I recognize everything in this amazing video. Even the w-65 that we're still required to carry. Nothing but respect to all miners everywhere, past and present.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend
THANK YOU MINER FOR YOUR STORY....MY grandfather worked the mines when he was 13 up till he was 16 or 17 in eastern Kentucky. .I have family from prestonsburg Kentucky Down to Tennessee..I'm a Truck Driver ...Semi Trucks Run my Veins ,, I've always wanted to be a coal miner I don't know why I guess it's just in my blood and I've never even been in a coal mine
.. Daddy hauled coal back in the sixties and seventies in Kentucky they lived in Ironton Ohio. Across the river from Ashland I was born in Ironton raised in South Point Ohio then we moved to Tennessee when I was 8 years old never got the chance to be a miner
Awesome story my friend. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
@@donnielaws7020 well my words didn't spell right so it looks like I'm an idiot LOL...my Grandfather Took dad and and my grandma and they got on route 23 you know the three Rs Readin Rightin and route 23 ..They made it to Ashland KY and crossed over the Ohio river there into Ironton Pawpaw said well this looks like a good place to just stop here.... So they set up shop he bought some land and he started buying big trucks my dad hauled Coal when he was 17 ...Some of my words didn't come out right I was tired last night....We Live in Southeast Tenn near Cleveland Tenn Sorta ...Ocoee to be exact . Near the North Carolina line...I started Truckin' when I was 18 back in 94' . I'm still Truckin'...I love it..I Haul chicken outta the Southeast to California and Produce back... Chicken Truck That Moves Produce coast to coast....I have a stretched Out Long nose 2021 Peterbilt 389... Peace ✌️ Love 💕 and 18 Wheelz to Ya Hero..God Bless ..Dear Lord 🙏 Take Care Of Everyone down here on Earth 🌎 this Christmas ⛄ season, In God We Trust...In the Name of The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit Amen 🙏
@@donnielaws7020 I tell my friends I have lil Peterbilts and Kenworth W-9s in my blood ,They haul the blood molecules to all the extremities throughout my body with tiny Stainless Steel Spread Axle Reefer Trailers . lol 🤣🤣...I watch stuff about them Mines on RUclips all the time...Have You heard . Bootleg Miner By Van Wagner ..U should look it up on the RUclips ..He's from the anthracite coal region. Shamokin Pa.... Anywayz I'll leave ya alone now...God Bless My Friend .....
@@Al_Nunnery Awesome. Thanks my friend for sharing.
@@Al_Nunnery It's OK my friend.
My pawpaw was working when they went on strike on VA to get the Union at the coal mines. UMWA really took decent care of the ones that survived.
Thank you mr Donnie for keeping history alive. You know what hard work truly is. I hope you have a wonderful day You deserve wonderful days. 🙏🏻
You are very welcome
I would love to hear more stories when you were in the mines . I loved listening to this . I shovels a lot of coal in the early 2000 on the tallest Montain in West Virginia . I love to hear how things were .
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
This is SUCH an important history for our whole country to know. Thank you for preserving this history! I also hope that people know about the wonderful movements underway in Appalachia right now to transfer over to renewable energy and build good paying green jobs to support all the former coal miners and their families. These are wonderful and hard-working folks, and the country owes it to them to try to take care of them. With love and respect! #GoUnion! #UMW
Amen friend. Well said. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Live in SC but from SW PA and many of my friends worked in the mines and they aged quickly, black lung and a host of other respiratory diseases.
So sorry to hear that my friend. It is a hard life. I know all to well. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.