Urgent Blair Mountain Update

The following was emailed to me by the Friends of Blair Mountain. Please take the time to read and act by June 17!

The bottom line is very simple - the coal operators, in conjunction with the State Department of Highways, plan to cut off the only public road to the Blair Mountain battlefield, effectively preventing scholars and the general public from studying and visiting the area.

Here are the details as sent to me...

Recently, coal operators moved a much closer towards eradicating one of the most important labor heritage sites in America. On May 17th, the West Virginia Department of Highways held a hearing on the proposed abandonment of County Route 119/7, which will essentially allow the destruction of key elements on Blair Mountain.


Don't be surprised if you weren't aware of that hearing, because the Department of Highways District Manager where the abandonment is proposed never knew about it either! But thanks to the Friends of Blair Mountain, it has come to my attention that we do still have until June 17th to submit our written comments to persuade the agency to make the right decision.

The coal operators and their land company obviously hope this'll pass without opposition, but with your input we can keep this part of people’s history accessible. And it won't cost you a thing, other than a few moments of your time.

According to archeologist Brandon Nida:

"This area is extremely important, as it is one of the only places where both the defensive positions and the miners' approaches are still relatively undisturbed. While some archaeological research has been done in this portion, much work is still needed to comprehend the dynamics of the battle at this location.


If this (abandonment of right of way) happens, the coal operators will control the only route into the southern end of the battlefield, and access would be completely cut off to the general public.


This would then enable lumbering and coal extraction operations to be undertaken in the heart of the battlefield. In addition, without this access, our ability to monitor the site will be severely impeded."

- As of now, the state of WV does not spend any money whatsoever on maintaining the road. It does not cost the state anything, but has the potential to generate funds in the future.

- Alternative proposals for County Route 119/7 that could benefit the public over the long term should be considered. The road could serve as an interpretive hiking trail that showcases the history of miners' struggles and the battle itself. There are many more possible usages and development ideas for the battlefield in which the road would play a central part, and these alternatives could generate long-term employment and public money.

If passed, the abandonment of right-of-way will grant the coal operators the ability to bulldoze one of the most important sections of the Blair Mountain battle sites. The attorney representing Natural Resource Partners, L.P., has stated candidly that it is the intention of his clients to surface mine the area.

If you're opposed to it, please direct your comments to:

Paul A. Mattox, Jr., P.E.

Phone (304)558-3505

Fax (304)558-1004

E-mail dot.commissioner@wv.gov

And be sure that you get your comments there before June 17!

West Virginians at War: A Memorial Day Blog

It is Memorial Day and, as such, I thought it appropriate to share some recollections of West Virginia soldiers. My doctoral dissertation, “Soldiers and Stereotypes” dealt with the experiences of West Virginians who served during World War II. What follows are a few direct quotes from interviews and letters written by actual West Virginians concerning World War II. I’ve not provided any analysis of these passages (for that you can read my dissertation or simply wait until the book is finished). Today, however, I thought I would let the words of these West Virginians speak for themselves. I encourage everyone to read them, take a moment, and reflect.



James Weekley (Bridgeport, WV) on Pearl Harbor:

My next door neighbor and friend Martin Foley came out, and he
was the same fella that told me about when Hitler invaded
Poland. He came out and he says, “Pearl Harbor’s been attacked
by the Japanese! I just heard it on the radio!” And my first thought
was where and what is Pearl Harbor? And so, I told my Dad
when he came out and we went downtown and it hadn’t come
out in the news yet. I mean the newspaper. But, as we came back
we turned on the radio, and that entire evening, and the next day
and the next and hearing how many people were killed, estimates
and everything. Looking back to it, it’s hard to compare it to things
that have happened since. I believe it was one of the most exciting
nights of my life. I didn’t think about the blood or the gore. All I
thought of was the other stuff like, “were gonna get ‘em, and it’s
glorious.



Patrick Ward Gainer (Parkersburg, WV) in a letter to his wife:

Each time I write I think about our coming anniversary and
wonder whether you will receive this letter on that day. I am
sorry I could not send you something, but all I can send you
now is my love. I’ll make up for everything some day. If
we can just pull through this period of separation and then
be together again always. I hope we never quarrel again.
Goodnight by beloved wife. I love you with all of me.


Rudy Barie on combat:

People ask, what is it like to be in combat? This is a difficult
question to answer. With combat comes many strange feelings.
You know that at any moment you might fall dead or be seriously
wounded, but you haven’t the time to worry about the death that is
whistling around you. The time of serious thoughts of life and death,
home and the future come before and after an attack. The moment
before actual fighting you’re scared, scared stiff. Your thoughts are
a mile a minute – home, the objective, what to do, when to do it,
did you get the plan across to the men, will the attack be successful,
your tongue is dry, what time is it, glad you wrote that letter last night, wish this was over, time to go…

Rudy Barie describing a Japanese attack in the Pacific Theatre:

Amid the bomb bursts I saw one of my friends crawling towards
my pit without the use of his right arm. Blood was pouring from
his side as if someone had hit him with an axe. There were
screams of pain all around me as I jumped up to help my buddy
into the pit. Then I saw another fellow running across the field
toward another shelter. Just then another blast came rolling in
over us. After the dust cleared, where that kid was I saw a
shoe lying on the ground where he was running and hoped God
would have mercy on his soul. Then it was quiet and I knew
the raid was over. I yelled for a medic who helped me carry
the fellow with the missing arm to the first aid tent. I never
saw him again. I can’t explain why, but I went away so no
one could see me and tried to hide the tears that were rolling
down my face. Once again my Mother and Dad had been
spared their son. I guess I’m not so tough after all.

Daniel Kessler, after finding a Nazi Concentration Camp:

We arrived the day the camp was taken by American troops. The
Germans had tried to do away with the camp and prisoners. Dead
men tell no lies and they did try to kill them all but we surprised
them and took over the camp before SS troops could do too much
of their devilish work. Dead bodies were stacked on wagons in
long rooms with running water over them. There was at least
3,000 dead bodies around the place. The dead had been shot,
gassed, beaten to death, put to death with shots in the head, and
any other way that would cause death. This I will never forget
as long as I live.

Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Hershel Williams (South Charleston, WV), on Iwo Jima:

When we went overseas a fellow of the name of Vernon
Waters, who was a huge Swede who lived in Montana,
northern Montana. He and I became really close friends.
He was six foot six. I’m five foot six. You know, I had to
look up to him whether I wanted to or not. But we became
very close friends and, when we got over to Guadalcanal
they put Vernon and myself into a special unit, which kept
us together. At that time until we got to Iwo Jima, we
were closer than any brother than I have had, and I had
several brothers. . . .

Each of us wore a ring and mine was a ruby that
probably came from a dime store because it turned my
finger green. But Ruby is my wife’s name and at that time
we were engaged. So I wore what she gave to me to
remind me that there was a Ruby waiting for me. Well,
he had a ring on his right hand that his father had given
him in the Marine Corps. It is absolutely a Court Martial
offense to remove anything from a deceased marine’s
body . . . but Vernon and I, we didn’t know there was
such a law when we made the pact that if anything
happened to us I will give his ring back to his folks and
he will give my ring back to Ruby. And then, on Iwo,
on March 7, he got hit with a mortar and he got killed.
I ran to him and soon as I got to him, I knew he was dead.
But, I saw that ring on his finger and that pact struck me.
This is what I promised to do. So, I jerked the ring off his
finger before anybody else got there. But, having been in
the sun, and for the South Pacific we had lots and lots of
sun, and under that ring it was as white as snow. And,
they would know that somebody would have that ring.

So, in order to camouflage that, I grabbed some old black
sand which we had lots of around – old, volcanic black
sand. I spit in my hand and rubbed that sand and made a
little bit of mud out of it and I rubbed that on [his finger]
and you could sort of see all the whiteness was still
there but, it wasn’t what it was before.

So I stuck the ring in my pocket, kept it, and never
said anything to one person about it. As I got home in
January 1946 my wife to be and I drove to northern
Montana about as far as you can go to the Canadian
border, and I delivered that ring to Vernon’s father. That’s
the most memorable thing I can remember.

Joseph J. Mueller (Wheeling, WV) in a letter to his sister:

I could tell you tales which would wring your heart. But
what’s the use? [The soldiers] and we will just have to
sweat out the mess, and hope for better things to come.
You should thank God that none of your boys are old enough
for this war. For it is not pretty, this war, any aspect of it.
Some of the things I have seen would have made me sick
two years ago. Now, no. But I can never be hardened to
the thought that the poor lad in question had all the hopes
and dreams of the rest of us, and perhaps a mother or a wife
or a sweetheart watching the mail box every day. What a
rude shock must be the news that finally comes of him!
What everyone thinks he knows from reading and hearing
takes on a new reality when you see. But, whatever started
me on this? This is a heck of a birthday letter! Please
excuse it. I am really not depressed. I know that these things
must be. I only hope that those who make the peace
remember what price was paid for it, and they make it
stick.

Lloyd Kennedy on the impact of the war on his life:

I entered the army with high hopes and still greater aspirations.
I was a member of that generation of frustrated, heroic, pig-
headed youth which laid in the gutters, wallered and slept in
mud, snow, and rain actually thinking we were accomplishing
something for our home and nation – for democracy. I dreamed
of returning a conquering hero. I wanted to help preserve those
freedoms so many were dying for. As I see it now – all was in
vain. While helping to protect those many aspects of our
security, our freedom, and of our peace. I lost something more
vital than any hypocritical peace could ever mean to a bunch
of money hungry gluttons, flag-waving, patriotic boosters at
home. I lost my peace of mind, my own confidence in our
government, and worst of all, I learned to doubt God. My
doubt in the existence of a God and a Faith, which had been
driven into me since I was old enough to distinguish
between right and wrong, good and bad, drove me to
committing acts that only now do I realize and feel I am
suffering for. The sword and the metallic thunder of the
cannon made me conclude that there were more powerful
things here on earth, than even my own blind faith. Now
I wish I had remained blind, absurd, yet quite believable.

Conservative or Liberal West Virginia?

I recently asked two of my Political Science classes to write up a short essay on the following question:

Are West Virginians generally more liberal or conservative? Do you think that the current political attitudes in this area are a positive or a negative thing?

What follows are some of the responses. Again, these are exact quotes, they are anonymous, and they do not necessarily reflect my opinions. I've posted them here in order to give a snapshot of the attitudes of college age students in the heart of Appalachia. For those who do not know, West Virginia has traditionally been a Democratic state. Although the number of registered Democrats far outweigh the number of registered Republicans, West Virginia has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in each of the last three elections. Therefore, I decided to ask my students to write about what they thought. The results are quite interesting .... to say the least.


“When Reagan was president we had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash; now that Obama is president we have no hope and no cash.”

“The Madison area is conservative because of the coal mines.”

“Without a doubt, the people of southern West Virginia are much more conservative than liberal.”

“Conservative is the side that the Savior is on.”

“West Virginians are very conservative when it comes to change, and you rarely see change. Most of my family and friends and neighbors are old-fashioned people.”

“People here like to raise their families with strong morals and a strong sense of what they feel is right and wrong. For example, to people in California and other liberal areas, homosexuality is not such a big deal, whereas, in our area, it is heavily frowned upon because it isn’t “right.” By right, they mean what they interpret from The Bible as to how to live their lives.”

“As for the legalizing of marijuana, that is also a problem in my area. There are a lot of people that live in my area who use marijuana and I’m sure they would love it if it were legalized so they wouldn’t have to sneak around.”

“Even though the people are mainly Democrats, the times are changing so rapidly that they’re starting to lean to the right and are becoming more conservative.”

“Democrats are also trying to silence churches by not letting them preach about certain topics such as gay rights and other issues. They have taken prayer out of schools completely.”

“In West Virginia there is a surplus of lower class people who depend on a redistribution of wealth.”

“In West Virginia everyone wants a free handout.”

“The people in my area are mostly liberal because all they want to do is sit on their ass and get a welfare check when they are completely able to work.”

“One hypocritical issue is that no one in my community wants the government’s involvement until they need help. Most of the people in my community say that they do not want the government to interfere with their everyday lives, yet they abuse the welfare and social security system so that they don’t have to work.”


Quite a collection of quotes, isn't it? I would love to read what some of you think. So if you have comments, please share. Until next time..

Students Speak Out on Mountaintop Removal

Blankenship verses Kennedy

Last Thursday, the CEO of Massey Coal, Don Blankenship, and activist/lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debated mountaintop removal on the campus of the University of Charleston. It was a requirement in my classes for students to watch the debate as well as a humorous segment from the Colbert Report on mountaintop removal. You can watch Colbert’s six minute segment by clicking on the link below:



http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/261997/january-18-2010/coal-comfort---margaret-palmer



Each week, my students are required to write a small essay on current issues. Because I teach at a small college in southern West Virginia, I thought it would be perfect to have them write up a response essay to the Blankenship-Kennedy Debate. Let me be very clear – these students live in the heart of coal country. No one is more affected by mountaintop removal than the people who live in these coal communities. My students are sons and daughters of coal miners. Some of them have even worked in the mines. Suffice it to say, the essays I read were filled with many strong and sincere opinions. I have selected a number of direct quotes from the student essays for this blog. Journalists, scholars, politicians, activists, and capitalists have all spouted their opinions on this controversial topic. Unfortunately, no one ever bothers to ask the people who spend their whole lives around these mines what they think. What follows are their voices, unfiltered and unedited. I hope someone takes the time to listen.



“Before watching the debate I was all for mountaintop removal because I did not realize the impact it had on the environment. I am still not completely against mountaintop removal, but I think the coal operators should be more careful.”

“I can’t even hunt anymore in all the places around where I grew up because of the devastation of forests in the areas around these mines.”

“Having grown up in Boone County, WV, the more I research mountaintop removal the angrier I become. Our culture, which derives from mining coal, is rapidly slipping away. I strongly believe this type of coal mining needs to stop before it completely destroys southern West Virginia’s culture. My grandfather was among the ten thousand men who marched for union rights at the Battle of Blair Mountain. Our society is founded on the beliefs of such men who fought together for union rights. Since Massey has moved into southern West Virginia, the union has weakened. Men work six days a week and twelve hours a day. They make good money, but their family life ultimately suffers. Many are faced with divorce and the mass majority suffer from major health problems. Prescription drug use is at an all time high. Logan and Boone Counties lead the state and West Virginia ranks first in the country for prescription drug use.”

“Our culture’s environment is also a major cause for concern. The machinery used to mine coal is destroying our habitat. Drag lines and triple seven rock trucks are moving earth at a phenomenal rate. In one scoop, the drag line can pick up a football field. This machine runs twenty four hours a day seven days a week. The devastation done to our country because of mountaintop removal can be seen firsthand at NASA.com.”

“Looking from past to present, I see a community that has been blinded by employment. We have made the number one concern jobs while overlooking our culture and environment.”

“The world views West Virginia as a bunch of hillbillies who are having fun blowing up our mountains. They see us a being very destructive and uncaring towards the environment.”

“My Dad is the youngest of 7 children and began working in the mines at a fairly young age. Though there have been some drawbacks in his career – injuries and layoffs – his job in the mines helped him to financially raise me and my four sisters. With the environmentalists standing in the way of the coal industry, his job becomes more at risk every day. While the Colbert Report pokes fun at the situation, others realize its seriousness. If faced with the closing down of mines, every aspect of my life would change. Being in his 50s and lacking a college degree, my father’s financial input would be lacking . . . my family may have to move, which would change our dialect, our quality of life.”

“These blasting sites can damage the property of homes nearby. In fact, it has killed people before. There have been incidents where the boulders would go through the house, hit someone, and kill them.”

“As a grandson of two coal miners and a father that worked in the mining industry for 10 years, I realize that West Virginia’s livelihood depends on coal. The loss of coal operations in West Virginia would be devastating to our economy. Many of the environmentalists are from other states and they do not understand how the coal companies reclaim the land. If you have ever driven back on one of the worksites that they have reclaimed, you can see plant life growing and flourishing.”

“Coal miners understand the risks that come with their jobs. As long as there are willing workers and the benefits outweigh the consequences, coal mining will continue to be West Virginia’s largest industry.”

“Mountaintop removal is ruining our beautiful state.”

“I think that [mountaintop removal in WV] is as popular as it is because it is safer for the miners themselves and the people of southern WV have seen a lot of death in underground mining.”

“To me both sides use methods to misinform and evade truths. Kennedy quoted a lot of people, used colorful language, and emotionalized his answers whereas Blankenship made references to other countries like India and China to avoid talking about issues of this region.”

“I felt that Robert Kennedy came much more prepared for the debate, with real facts and statistics. It was obvious that he feels passionately about stopping surface mining and Blankenship feels passionately abut preserving it. I also felt that Blankenship was a bit disrespectful during the debate. Instead of using more statistics to prove his points as Kennedy did, he tried to act as if everything Kennedy said was dumb and make the audience laugh”

“Even the most extreme environmentalist would be a coal supporter if they went home to a cold, dark house at night.”

“Coal has been a large part of my family and many other families in this area for years and years. I can honestly say I am a friend of coal, but to see the mining industry destroy our mountains like they are is unacceptable. Obviously there are other ways to mine coal, so why don’t we just stick to the basics?”

That's all for now. Cheers.

Corn Day

Today was Corn Day. For those of you who happen to wander across this blog, I'm sure “Corn Day” has no meaning for you. Some of you may have never even treaded through a cornfield. For the majority of my life, however, Corn Day has been a day to dread. Every year on the first week of August my family either purchases or harvests corn and stores it so that it may be consumed over the course of the next nine months or so. The day entails shucking, picking the silk off the ears, carrying numerous trash bins full of husks and corn cobs into the woods and dumping them (the forest animals will eat well tonight), boiling the ears, cutting the corn off the ears, putting the corn into plastic bags, and freezing them. Today my family stored 45 dozen ears of corn in this fashion. The process took a little over twelve hours.

This was my first Corn Day in nearly a decade. For the last seven years I have lived in Morgantown, West Virginia, teaching at West Virginia University and getting a Ph.D. in history. Recently, I moved back to southern West Virginia, near where I was raised, to teach at a new college and therefore, for the first time in a long time, am able to enjoy the bountiful fruits of Corn Day. I am many things, dear reader; a farmer is not one of them. You can guess, therefore, that I began the day less than enthusiastic.

It all started around ten in the morning, when I accompanied my mother down some country road. I’m not talking about the kind of country road that took John Denver home to the place where he belonged (I’ve always hated that song, by the way. It’s not even about West Virginia, but western Virginia). I’m talking about a real country road. It starts out as a two lane, winds around the hills alongside a creek until it becomes a one lane, twists and bends some more until it becomes a gravel road, then your car bumps and trudges a bit until the road is just dirt. There are trailers beside the creek with old folks sitting on their porches giving you suspicious looks as you pass by. There is trash on the creek bank and you wonder where it all comes from. To put it mildly, the pizza delivery boy has never made his way out this far. For me, it’s stunning. I have lived in a college town for a while now and I haven’t been around rural poverty for some time. Even though I grew up around it, I failed to notice it much. I was simply used to it. When you are away from it for years and return to it, the poverty hits you like a slap in the face. Sure, there is poverty everywhere, but to see it all around the community of my youth is depressing.

We eventually make our way to a small farm (I posted a pic of it above) where we purchase the corn for $3.25 a dozen. Not too bad. The farm is run by an elderly couple and a few of their relatives. They are all over sixty. In fact, as we are loading the corn, I look around at the other folks buying corn and I am the youngest person there by at least twenty five years. The matriarch of the farm smiles at me and tells me that she doesn’t see many “youngsters like me around.” The sad truth then dawns on me. I am witnessing a dying scene in Appalachia. The couple’s children have all left the farm and even the state for different careers. There is no one to take over the crops when the couple dies, and both of them are nearly seventy. In a couple of decades you will not be able to buy corn or beans or strawberries from small farmers around here. There won’t be any. At least not in West Virginia. My children, should I ever have any, may only be able to get their corn at Wal-Mart. Now that’s another depressing thought. I don't remember Corn Day being this sad.

The rest of the day was tough and long. I’m tired even as I write this. But I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on the matter. You see, as our society becomes increasingly more industrial, it is not merely the independent farmers that are the endangered species, but communal events like Corn Day will also soon be gone. My entire family is always involved in this event - from my brothers-in-law to my parents, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Sometimes my uncles and aunts are there. As a kid I resented Corn Day because of all the work. I would guess that a lot of kids resent working in or around farms, which is why many of them leave. But living a fair distance away from family for many years has given me a deeper appreciation for the day. It is about more than having home grown, golden sweet corn at your disposal year round. Although that is really nice…… so nice that to this day I refuse to eat corn from a can or in a restaurant. It’s just not good enough. But on a deeper level, time working together is time spent together. Families who live in urban America have nothing comparable with which to spend their time. It's amazing how many people there are in this country who live under the same roof and yet they hardly know the person in the next room. But this example, I think, drives the point home. Earlier tonight as we all prepared to leave my parents’ home (where the work is always done), my nieces each gave me a hug and kiss and one of them, Mattie Ann, told me how glad she was that I was here this year for Corn Day. That made me happy. In a culture where families scatter and most nieces only know their uncle as the guy who shows up for a few days every Christmas, I’m glad my nieces will know me for something more. And I’m glad to still be a part of a dying tradition in a changing society somewhere in the mountains of Appalachia. Maybe I'm being a bit sentimental, or dare I say it, corny ... but there it is.