Coal miners were remembered as men bound by an almost spiritual fealty born from facing the dangers of the mine together, a brotherhood that John L. Lewis said existed in their calling to a more pronounced degree than in any other industry. He said a man who works in a coal mine fears nothing except God and is not afraid of injunctions, politicians, threats, denunciations, verbal castigation, slander, or death. The monument was dedicated to the coal miners buried in these hallowed grounds, with gratitude expressed to the many volunteers, organizations, and citizens whose efforts honored them, and with the belief that without these miners there would be no village.