Michael Guillerman worked in a coal mine in Kentucky for 18 years, from 1974 to 1991. He wrote "Face Boss: The Memoir of a Western Kentucky Coal Miner" about his experiences.

Mining coal is not just a job, but a way of life for most miners, as least for those miners who enjoy working in this profession. The same thing might be asked of a career military man, knowing that he could end up in dangerous conflicts yet willing to serve, both in peace and in war. However, just as not everyone is cut out to be a soldier, not everyone is cut out to be a miner, which I can attest to from my eighteen years working underground at Peabody’s Camp No. 2 mine in Union County, Kentucky. For those folks, working underground is an unbearable burden of labor, their only reason for being underground the good benefits and wages. Working with these types, the gripers or contraries, diminished the joy of mining coal for those of us who reveled in it. Fortunately, they are the small exception rather than the rule.

To me, especially after becoming a face boss (section foreman), working at the face each day with my crew of men was an adventure. Danger lurked around every corner and I always had to be keenly alert for any situations which could pose a threat to the men under my charge, whether it be methane gas, coal dust, faulty equipment, hazardous roof conditions, etc. This alone kept the adrenaline going, but on top of this, there was the adventure of mining virgin coal, a combustible rock nearly 380 million years in the making, that lay before us in incalculable tons. The competition among units to mine the most coal was an important incentive to excel, to put forth your best effort day in and day out. There is a pride that goes with being number one, whatever field of endeavor you choose, and being part of a top tonnage unit is something to work for and be proud of.

On the unit, in the bathhouse, or away from the mines, there is long standing tradition of camaraderie among coal miners, sort of like being brothers in arms. So as not to paint too rosy a picture, all is not perfect in the mining world, as would be expected in any profession. Conflicts can arise for a host of reasons, such as personality differences, safety issues, and work ethic. However, miners can usually find common ground when it comes to mining coal, their purpose for being there.

When terrible mining tragedies occur, such as in West Virginia yesterday, all miners come together – all with the knowledge and understanding of what it may be like for the miners left underground. Knowing the mining environment as they do, they feel much empathy for the miners and their families, at the same time knowing it could someday be them. Though I said mining coal may be an adventure for some, it can also be an extremely hazardous adventure in this inherently dangerous and dark underground world.