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Artifacts preserved from the Quecreek Mine rescue in 2002 are kept at the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site in Somerset, as captured on the 19th anniversary of the accident Saturday, July 24, 2021. The rescue site is less than 20 miles away from the Flight 93 memorial.
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15 miles from the Flight 93 crash, visitors find a happy ending at mine rescue site

Sarah Simpson / Post-Gazette

15 miles from the Flight 93 crash, visitors find a happy ending at mine rescue site

QUECREEK, Pa. — Leaving the Flight 93 Memorial, visitors who head west on U.S. Route 30 and then south on Route 985 soon approach the Quecreek Mine rescue site — another Somerset County mining area that garnered national attention in the first years of the millennium.

On July 24, 2002, nine coal miners became trapped 240 feet underground when, guided by an inaccurate map of the mine, they broke through a wall that ushered millions of gallons of water into the mine. After a ferocious five-day rescue mission, all nine miners were pulled above ground, one at a time, transported in a cage-type cylinder.

Some visitors to the Flight 93 Memorial in Stonycreek, looking for other activities in the area, come across the rescue site through the internet or local visitor center. Quecreek, a 15-mile drive from the 9/11 memorial, is far from an international tourist attraction.

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While the Flight 93 Memorial is maintained by the National Park Service, the Quecreek Mine rescue site, which spans a mere 5 acres, is run by Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation.

National Park Ranger Robert Franz describes to visitors the events of 9/11 at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County on July 27, 2021.
Ema R. Schumer
Two decades later, Stonycreek draws thousands of visitors to consecrate the resting place of 40 aboard Flight 93

The foundation was created by the family whose farmland transformed overnight into the rescue site. It includes a 7-foot-tall bronze statue of a coal miner, a gift shop, museum exhibit, and artifacts from the rescue throughout the grounds. 

Though the sites pay homage to two vastly different events, the tourist attractions complement each other, visitors say, illustrating examples of American bravery and unity that resulted in polar opposite outcomes: joy and tragedy.

Kathy and Curtis Williamson, ages 70 and 72, respectively, visited Stonycreek with the purpose of paying their respects to the Flight 93 Memorial. The Emerald Isle, N.C., couple, a self-described “traveling two,” are traveling across the country this summer in a recreational vehicle.

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Curtis Williamson, who was piloting his own plane from Richmond, Va., to Danville, Va., on 9/11, said they didn’t know the Quecreek Mine rescue occurred in the same county until they searched the internet for things to do nearby.

“I was Googling things to do in this area around Somerset. And I saw it. And I thought, I remember when it happened,” he said. “We had to come.”

The morning after they visited Flight 93, the Williamsons toured Quecreek, coincidentally on the 19th anniversary of the rescue. They attended a ceremony where the foundation gave an American flag to the mother of Sandy Bradshaw, who was one of the crew aboard Flight 93 and also from North Carolina.

Kathy Williamson said the Quecreek Mine rescue reminded her of the good in humanity.

“People coming together are able to sometimes make a really positive difference,” she said. “So many people helped. But we were sitting in front of the TV wondering if these men were ever going to get out of there. It just didn’t seem like they would. But hey, they did.”

“We need a happy day,” she added.

Rod Rhymer, 63, and Susan Schwalbauch, 61, agree.

The Amanda, Ohio, couple, who also visited Quecreek the day after touring the 9/11 memorial, recommend that other visitors do the same.

“This is like kicking your heels, you know, as opposed to out there,” Mr. Rhymer said after sitting through a presentation on the rescue at the visitor center. “I don’t remember having a joyous moment yesterday.”

On a summer road trip that included a stop in Butcher Holler, Ky., the birthplace of country singer Loretta Lynn, Mr. Rhymer and Ms. Schwalbauch drove to Pennsylvania to tour the Flight 93 crash site, which he had previously visited but she had not. While in town, they thought they would check out the mine rescue site, which Mr. Rhymer said his daughter reminded him was close by.

Ms. Schwalbauch, who remembers painful details of 9/11 but did not recall the mine rescue, said visiting Quecreek on the heels of the Flight 93 Memorial is cathartic.

“It was a little nerve wracking yesterday. It was, it was sad. It was very sad,” she said. “So this is, almost joyous, you know, comparatively.”

Ema R. Schumer: eschumer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @emaschumer.

First Published: August 16, 2021, 10:13 a.m.

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Artifacts preserved from the Quecreek Mine rescue in 2002 are kept at the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site in Somerset, as captured on the 19th anniversary of the accident Saturday, July 24, 2021. The rescue site is less than 20 miles away from the Flight 93 memorial.  (Sarah Simpson / Post-Gazette)
Rod Rhymer, left, and Susan Schwalbauch, right, both of Amanda, Ohio, talk about what brought them to Somerset County as they explore the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, on Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The couple also visited the Flight 93 memorial, less than twenty miles away. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
Vicky Weimer, an employee of the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site, tells tourists the story of the rescue, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. Less than twenty miles away from the rescue site is the Flight 93 Memorial, another popular tourist attraction. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
From left to right, Bob Dietzel, Sharon Dietzel, Pam Whalen and Mike Whalen, look around the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The Dietzels, of Jersey Shore, PA, and the Whalens, of Bloomsburg, stopped by the rescue site and the Flight 93 Memorial while camping together in Somerset County. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
Vicky Weimer, an employee of the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site, gives a presentation to tourists about the story of the rescue, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The miners were rescued less than twenty miles away from where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
Vicky Weimer, an employee of the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site, gives a presentation to tourists about the story of the rescue, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The miners were rescued less than twenty miles away from where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
The spot at the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site where nine miners were rescued, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The rescue happened less than twenty miles away from the location of the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
A 7-foot cast bronze statue of a coal miner, which sits at the entrance to the Quecreek Mine Memorial Site, on the nineteenth anniversary of the accident, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Somerset. The rescue site is less than twenty miles away from the Flight 93 Memorial. #twentieth9/11 (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)  (Sarah Simpson/Post-Gazette)
Kathy Williamson, 70, and her husband Curtis Williamson, 72, visited the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site a day after touring the Flight 93 Memorial. The Emerald Isle, N.C. couple, who are traveling around the country this summer in an RV, drove to southwestern Pennsylvania for the 9/11 memorial. They learned they were near the Quecreek rescue site through a simple search on Google and decided to pay a visit. Self-proclaimed patriots, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson enjoy traveling the United States to visit historic national sites.  (Ema Schumer/Post-Gazette)
Kathy Williamson, 70, and her husband Curtis Williamson, 72, visited the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site a day after touring the Flight 93 Memorial. The Emerald Isle, N.C. couple, who are traveling around the country this summer in an RV, drove to southwestern Pennsylvania for the 9/11 memorial. They learned they were near the Quecreek rescue site through a simple search on Google and decided to pay a visit. Self-proclaimed patriots, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson enjoy traveling the United States to visit historic national sites.  (Ema Schumer/Post-Gazette)
Sarah Simpson / Post-Gazette
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