More than 100 were in attendance for the final day in a week-long celebration of the rescue of Randall Fogle, Thomas “Tucker” Foy, Dennis Hall, Ron Hileman, Harry "Blaine" Mayhugh Jr, John Phillippi, Robert Pugh Jr, Mark Popernack and John Unger from the Quecreek underground mine in Lincoln Township, Somerset County, in July 2002.

The group became trapped by a water inundation when crews accidentally breached the mine wall of the adjacent abandoned Saxman Coal operation.

Thanks to the combined efforts of local, state and federal rescuers and officials as well as days of drilling through about 240 feet of overburden, all nine men were brought to the surface via a rescue capsule and reunited with their families.

The worry, sadness, tension and ultimate joy surrounding what became known as “Nine for Nine” and the “Quecreek Miracle” came back again for those speaking before the crowd Saturday morning.

It was a day that also included a ribbon-cutting for the site’s official visitor’s center.

One of the first speakers was former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker, remembered by many for the close ties he developed with the families and friends of the men at the nearby Sipesville Fire Hall.

“I hustled up and got to the business of deploying the state’s assets,” Schweiker said of his response 10 years ago.

“We were not going to be overrun by the emotions of what could be. We went in determined, properly confident, but not insensibly optimistic.”

The rescue of the men, he told the crowd, was marked by the world, not just the state – as the world’s eyes were all on that drill hole awaiting that happy ending.

That was especially so given the tragedy that had occurred just 10 miles away on September 11, 2001, when 40 passengers died on the hijacked United Flight 93.

“As those in the mining industry will tell you, Pennsylvania wrote the book on how to affect a rescue,” Schweiker said.

“For without that kind of rescue, the emergency response, the effort that went into this … the rescue shaft and the air shaft … this is a monument to Pennsylvania ingenuity.”

Another remembering those long days in July 2002 was Joe Main, who is now the assistant secretary of labor for the US Mine Safety and Health Administration.

“The teamwork was exceptional throughout the rescue effort, and the operation, while not without its frustrations, was seamless,” he said.

“The singular focus of all involved was where it should have been: on the rescue of the nine trapped miners.”

Main also tied the events of those days to many lessons the industry has been able to learn for better protections of its miners.

“Following Quecreek, MSHA improved the capsule’s capability so it could enter and exit a drill hole more easily,” he said.

“Eight years later, a team of NASA engineers developed another capsule modeled after MSHA’s, and it was used successfully to rescue 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped for 69 days in a gold and copper mine.”

One of the most significant lessons mining was able to take from Quecreek, Main pointed out, was that of inaccurate mine mapping – something that, to this day, continues to improve.

“After Quecreek, Congress passed legislation requiring an underground mine operator that closes or abandons a mine to file with MSHA a copy of a mine map current at the time of the closure,” he said.

“These maps are retained in a repository and made available to mine operators of adjacent properties.”

Federal officials are working with the Interstate Mining Compact Commission and individual US states to advance mine map centralization for all of the nation’s underground mines of all types.

Main, just hours after dedicating a more somber memorial in West Virginia – that to remember 29 workers killed in the Upper Big Branch mine explosion of 2010 – said that, by contrast, the Quecreek ceremony was part of a day of celebration and “to remind ourselves that we are capable of great things”

“At Quecreek, the nine brave miners made all the right decisions underground to survive, and the mine rescuers – and those who supported them – made all the right decisions at the surface. You all came together and did not give up until each and every miner was pulled to safety.”

Three of the nine Quecreek miners were present at Saturday’s remembrance, all filled with emotion and, as humble miners, speaking just a few words before the large crowd.

“Over the 10 ten years, every day is a good day,” John Unger said, adding that the rescue gave him a “second chance”

“It is hard to believe it has been ten years,” Harry Mayhugh added in his short remarks.

“[My rescue] allowed me to be with my wife and kids. My son graduated from high school this year, so I got to see that … and my daughter graduates next year.

“It’s 10 years I was given.”

The third rescued miner, Thomas Foy, was quickly brought to tears on the makeshift stage just feet from the borehole now marked with a historical plaque and signage.

“You kept me going for 10 years,” he said.

“Thanks to all the rescuers and the man above.”