"I know they can't eat, they can't sleep and they spend a lot of time talking to God and hoping their husbands come home. It's really that basic."

Even though it was decades after the Kellogg mine disaster, Olsen said the time spent interviewing survivors taught him that the tragedy of one single day is not erased by time.

"Without exception, every single man I interviewed cried. They could not get over it. It was that horrific."

The two who lived, who survived that terrible day, would forever go on to be the ones branded.

"The hardest thing was being the survivors. The ones who lived. That is what they were known as."

As each day passes, the anxiety and tension mount and despair is tempted to reach as deep as the caverns of the mine, Olsen is not dissuaded by what he sees.

Through tears and not knowing, Olsen recalls Sunshine and two who walked away. After eight days.

"It was a huge miracle for those two guys. Keep the faith. Miracles happened up in 1972 in Idaho. When those two guys got out, there was great joy for everybody. That two of them could live was a beautiful thing for the whole community. Even if one comes out, it will be a great joy for everybody."

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E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com

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