Myron Thomas (January 1916 – September 1987) was an American coal miner in northeastern Pennsylvania, and a hero of the

Knox Mine Disaster Knox may refer to: Places United States * Fort Knox, a United States Army post in Kentucky ** United States Bullion Depository, a high security storage facility commonly called Fort Knox * Fort Knox (Maine), a fort located on the Penobscot River i ...

when he led a group of 24 survivors to safety.

Mining career

Thomas became an assistant foreman in the mines in 1945. On January 22, 1959, Myron Thomas was working at the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, near

Pittston, Pennsylvania Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th an ...

, when the mine became flooded with icy water from the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

. Thomas recalled the sound as being "like two fast freight trains passing in a tunnel."David Singleton
"Knox Mine Disaster Survivor: 'I Was Ready to Die'"
''UPI Archives'' (21 January 1982). He led two dozen men through chest-high icy water for more than seven hours, until they reached the only remaining exit, Eagle Shaft. Thomas said that he repeated the

23rd Psalm Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a bo ...

through the ordeal. "I was ready to die," he explained.

After Knox

Myron Thomas testified at the legislative hearing into the disaster, along with many of the other survivors. He was also called to testify at the trial of the Knox Mine Company owners, the following year. After coal mining, he was a state highway superintendent. He had black lung as an older man, from his years as a coal miner. He died in September 1987, age 72. Thomas's grave is in a small wooded miners' cemetery in

Taylor, Pennsylvania Taylor is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, southwest of Scranton on the Lackawanna River. It was founded in 1790 by Cornelius Atherton. Silk manufacturing and coal mining were once practiced in the borough. Most of Ta ...

Legacy

In 2016, a documentary tribute to Myron Thomas, made by Al and David Brocca, was shown at the Annual Knox Mine Disaster Remembrance Program, at the

Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum preserves the heritage of anthracite coal mining in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania and is located in McDade Park in Scranton. It features exhibits detailing the industrial history of northeastern Penn ...

in Scranton. Thomas's grandson Robert J. Thomas also spoke on the occasion. There are folk ballads telling the story of the Knox Mine Disaster, including several that mention Myron Thomas; "Last Day of the Northern Field" is subtitled "Ballad of Myron Thomas."Jennifer Learn
"The Donegal Weavers Mix Local History With Traditional Sounds"
''Times Leader'' (22 January 1993): 8B.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Myron 1916 births 1987 deaths American coal miners