Overview

"This is a true American story, a factual account of a string of miraculous events that saved lives and uplifted a nation, as told through the eyes of the dairy farmer who had a front-row seat to the Miracle at Quecreek Mine. When Bill Arnold grabbed his Colt 45 and ran out to the tool shed at Dormel Farms near midnight on July 23, 2002, he thought he would be chasing off a would-be thief. Instead, he encountered two surveyors, friends of his. ""Billy, there's been an accident in the mine, and there's nine men missing. We think they're trapped under your farm."" After unwittingly breaking through a 3-foot thick coal seam separating them from millions of gallons of water that had built up in an unmapped section of a long-abandoned mine, nine miners struggled in the dark to stay alive, 240 feet below Dormel Farms. A never-ending torrent of muddy, debris-filled water strong enough to carry heavy equipment quickly flooded their only escape, soaking their clothes and trapping them in the cold belly of the mine with no way to communicate, one lunch pail of half-eaten food and almost no drinkable water. Above ground, Bill and a growing number of rescuers struggled to find a way to locate and reach them. What happened next ignited the nation and the world, hungry for some good news after the loss of so many lives in 9/11. In a cruel twist of irony, media from around the world found themselves descending on the same little town that just ten months earlier had endured the aftermath of a national tragedy, the crash of United Flight 93, just a few minutes away and in the same rolling farmland of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In the end, it wasn't the power of technology, of a massive amount of manpower and equipment, of the Governor of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Military, nor even the President of the United States that saved those nine men, though all did their part. Instead, all would later admit, in fact, none could deny that it was the power of God that saved them, along with the gritty determination and relentless ingenuity of the American Spirit."

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Former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker Just 10 months after the horror of 9-11, my work as Governor of Pennsylvania brought me back to Somerset County to launch what seemed like, to many, a hopeless rescue effort of nine coal miners trapped in the Quecreek Mine well below Bill Arnold's farm. Through his moving account of how the citizens of the local community, commonwealth, nation and the miners' families came together to inspire our effort, Bill's story puts the reader alongside our remarkable rescue team as we worked feverishly and prayerfully with every tool we had to reach them alive. Looking back, we experienced much more than a successful rescue; we encountered the mighty hand of divine providence guiding us to an outcome that observers now call the miracle at Quecreek . David E. Hess, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, at the time of the rescue I cannot say enough about how proud I am of the job the men and women of the Department of Environmental Protection did to bring about the safe rescue of the nine miners at Quecreek. From those in Deep Mine Safety handling the details of the rescue itself, to the water quality staff dealing with the millions of gallons of water being pumped out of the mine, our communications staff who worked around the clock with the unprecedented world-wide media attention and even our summer interns on-site who got the experience of a lifetime. Hundreds of people from DEP and other state agencies were involved, working along with our federal counterparts and the entire Somerset community, to achieve a single goal, knowing, the entire time, the odds were not on our side. This is the story of how we all converged on Bill Arnold's farm, and over four very long days 15 years ago, were witness to what I can only call a miracle. Wendy Bell, www.PositivelyWendyBell.com The Quecreek Mine Rescue would become the stuff of movies. Of Hollywood. Of exhausted rescuers working without rest. Of nine men prepared to die. Joined at their hips by rope so they would die together, so the rising water wouldn't wash their bodies away. Of frantic wives, and mothers, and children, pacing helplessly. Of a young dairy farmer whose land would soon become forever hallowed...a remarkable recounting of history, told by that dairy farmer whose life, too, was forever changed at Quecreek. Bill Arnold is more than a proud neighbor, an honorable American, and a tireless worker. He is a gifted storyteller who was there for every grueling minute of this incredible, unfolding story...

Former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker: Just 10 months after the horror of 9-11, my work as Governor of Pennsylvania brought me back to Somerset County to launch what seemed like, to many, a hopeless rescue effort of nine coal miners trapped in the Quecreek Mine well below Bill Arnold's farm. Through his moving account of how the citizens of the local community, commonwealth, nation and the miners' families came together to inspire our effort, Bill's story puts the reader alongside our remarkable rescue team as we worked feverishly and prayerfully with every tool we had to reach them alive. Looking back, we experienced much more than a successful rescue; we encountered the mighty hand of divine providence guiding us to an outcome that observers now call the miracle at Quecreek . David E. Hess, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, at the time of the rescue: I cannot say enough about how proud I am of the job the men and women of the Department of Environmental Protection did to bring about the safe rescue of the nine miners at Quecreek. From those in Deep Mine Safety handling the details of the rescue itself, to the water quality staff dealing with the millions of gallons of water being pumped out of the mine, our communications staff who worked around the clock with the unprecedented world-wide media attention and even our summer interns on-site who got the experience of a lifetime. Hundreds of people from DEP and other state agencies were involved, working along with our federal counterparts and the entire Somerset community, to achieve a single goal, knowing, the entire time, the odds were not on our side. This is the story of how we all converged on Bill Arnold's farm, and over four very long days 15 years ago, were witness to what I can only call a miracle. Wendy Bell, www.PositivelyWendyBell.com: The Quecreek Mine Rescue would become the stuff of movies. Of Hollywood. Of exhausted rescuers working without rest. Of nine men prepared to die. Joined at their hips by rope so they would die together, so the rising water wouldn't wash their bodies away. Of frantic wives, and mothers, and children, pacing helplessly. Of a young dairy farmer whose land would soon become forever hallowed...a remarkable recounting of history, told by that dairy farmer whose life, too, was forever changed at Quecreek. Bill Arnold is more than a proud neighbor, an honorable American, and a tireless worker. He is a gifted storyteller who was there for every grueling minute of this incredible, unfolding story...

Author Information

"Bill Arnold is Executive Director of the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation and owner of Dormel Farms, Somerset, Pennsylvania. On July 23, 2002, with nine miners trapped by flood waters in the Quecreek mine 240 feet below his dairy farm, Bill found himself on the front lines of a rescue operation which would span 78 grueling hours, involve hundreds of rescuers, volunteers, officials, media and suppliers, several tons of equipment, vehicles and technology, and dozens of anxious loved ones. Bill's contribution to the rescue itself was significant, but in many ways has been eclipsed by his ongoing work as witness to the miracles that occurred on his property during those four days, as host to thousands of visitors a year that want to honor and remember the event, as caretaker of the memorial site that sits on his property, as international media consultant on the subject of mine rescue, and as a motivational speaker who shares the story of the Miracle at Quecreek Mine with thousands of people each year. All of this falls after his daily duties managing a significant herd of cattle on his organic dairy farm. Bill would say he is just a common farmer who, like so many others that night, stepped up to the challenge when God called him to it. What he witnessed, what God brought about through the rescue, changed him, changed countless other participants, changed Somerset County, and for those shining hours focused the hopes of a nation and the eyes of the world on the power of God, the resilience of the American miner, and the relentless determination of the American Spirit. Now, the legacy is carried forward through his book, ""Miracle at Quecreek Mine."""

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