2010年4月25日，美国总统奥巴马和副总统拜登来到西弗吉尼亚州，参加本月早些时候在矿难中死亡的29名矿工悼念仪式。以下为奥巴马在悼念仪式上的讲话。
To all the families who loved so deeply the miners we’ve lost; to all who called them friends, worked alongside them in the mines, or knew them as neighbors, in Montcoal and Naoma, or Whitesville, in the Coal River Valley and across West Virginia
所有的遇难矿工的家属、朋友、工友、邻居们，
Let me begin by saying that we have been mourning with you throughout these difficult days.Our hearts have been aching with you.We keep our thoughts with the survivors who are recovering and resting at the hospital and at the homes.We‘re thankful for the rescue teams.But our hearts ache alongside you.
首先我想告诉大家，这段日子我们一直和你们一样为我们失去的矿工哀悼，我们的心情和你们一样悲痛，我们时刻牵挂着在医院接受治疗或在家得以恢复的幸存者。我们同样感激救援人员的工作。我们的心同你们一样难过。
We’re here to memorialize 29 Americans:Carl Acord.Jason Atkins.Christopher Bell.Gregory Steven Brock.Kenneth Allan Chapman.Robert Clark.Charles Timothy Davis.Cory Davis.Michael Lee Elswick.William I. Griffith.Steven Harrah.Edward Dean Jones.Richard K. Lane.William Roosevelt Lynch.Nicholas Darrell McCroskey.Joe Marcum.Ronald Lee Maynor.James E. Mooney.Adam Keith Morgan.Rex L. Mullins.Joshua S. Napper.Howard D. Payne.Dillard Earl Persinger.Joel R. Price.Deward Scott.Gary Quarles.Grover Dale Skeens.Benny Willingham.And Ricky Workman.
我们在这里，怀念29位美国人:卡尔·阿克德、杰森·阿金斯、克里斯多佛·贝尔、格利高里·史蒂夫·布洛克、肯尼斯·艾伦·查普曼、罗伯特·克拉克、查尔斯·蒂莫西·戴维斯、克里·戴维斯、迈克尔·李·埃尔斯维克、威廉·I.格里菲斯、史蒂芬·哈拉、爱德华·迪恩·琼斯、理查德·K.雷恩、威廉姆·罗斯威尔特·林奇、尼古拉斯·达利尔·麦考斯基、乔·马克姆、罗纳德·李·梅尔、詹姆斯·E.姆尼、亚当·基斯·摩根、雷克斯·L.姆林斯、乔什·S.纳皮尔、霍华德·D.佩恩、迪拉德·厄尔·波辛格、乔尔·R.普莱斯、迪华德·斯科特、加里·考拉斯、格罗佛·戴尔·斯金斯、本尼·威灵汉姆以及里奇·沃克曼。
Nothing I, or the Vice President, or the Governor, none of the speakers here today, nothing we say can fill the hole they leave in your hearts, or the absence that they leave in your lives.If any comfort can be found, it can, perhaps, be found by seeking the face of God -- (applause) -- who quiets our troubled minds, a God who mends our broken hearts, a God who eases our mourning souls.
无论我、副总统、州长，或是今天致悼词的任何一个人，都不能说出任何话语，可以填补你们因痛失亲人心中的创伤。
Even as we mourn 29 lives lost, we also remember 29 lives lived.Up at 4:30 a.m., 5:00 in the morning at the latest, they began their day, as they worked, in darkness.In coveralls and hard-toe boots, a hardhat over their heads, they would sit quietly for their hour-long journey, five miles into a mountain, the only light the lamp on their caps, or the glow from the mantrip they rode in.
尽管我们在哀悼这29条逝去的生命，我们同样也要纪念这29条曾活在世间的生命。凌晨4点半起床，最迟5点，他们就开始一天的生活，他们在黑暗中工作。穿着工作服和硬头靴，头戴安全帽，静坐着开始一小时的征程，去到五英里远的矿井，唯一的灯光是从他们头戴的安全帽上发出的，或是进入时矿山沿途的光线。
Day after day, they would burrow into the coal, the fruits of their labor, what so often we take for granted:the electricity that lights up a convention center; that lights up our church or our home, our school, our office; the energy that powers our country; the energy that powers the world.(Applause.)
日以继夜，他们挖掘煤炭，这也是他们劳动的果实，我们对此却不以为然:这照亮一个会议中心的电能；点亮我们教堂或家园、学校、办公室的灯光；让我们国家运转的能源；让世界维持的能源。
And most days they’d emerge from the dark mine, squinting at the light.Most days, they’d emerge, sweaty and dirty and dusted from coal.Most days, they’d come home.But not that day.
大多时候，他们从黑暗的矿里探出头，眯眼盯着光亮。大多时候，他们从矿里探出身，满是汗水和尘垢。大多时候，他们能够回家。但不是那天。
These men -– these husbands, fathers, grandfathers, brothers sons, uncles, nephews -– they did not take on their job unaware of the perils.Some of them had already been injured; some of them had seen a friend get hurt.So they understood there were risks.And their families did, too.They knew their kids would say a prayer at night before they left.They knew their wives would wait for a call when their shift ended saying everything was okay.They knew their parents felt a pang of fear every time a breaking news alert came on, or the radio cut in.
这些人，这些丈夫、父亲、祖父、弟兄、儿子、叔父、侄子，他们从事这份工作时，并没有忽视其中的风险。他们中的一些已经负伤，一些人眼见朋友受伤。所以，他们知道有风险。他们的家人也知道。他们知道，在自己去矿上之前，孩子会在夜晚祈祷。他们知道妻子在焦急等待自己的电话，通报今天的任务完成，一切安好。他们知道，每有紧急新闻播出，或是广播被突然切断，他们的父母会感到莫大的恐惧。
But they left for the mines anyway -– some, having waited all their lives to be miners; having longed to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and their grandfathers.And yet, none of them did it for themselves alone.
但他们还是离开家园，来到矿里。一些人毕生期盼成为矿工；他们期待步入父辈走过的道路。然而，他们并不是为自己做出的选择。
All that hard work, all that hardship, all the time spent underground, it was all for the families.It was all for you.For a car in the driveway, a roof overhead.For a chance to give their kids opportunities that they would never know, and enjoy retirement with their spouses.It was all in the hopes of something better.And so these miners lived -– as they died -– in pursuit of the American Dream.
这艰险的工作，其中巨大的艰辛，在地下度过的时光，都为了家人。都是为了你们；也为了在路上行进中的汽车，为了头顶上天花板的灯光；为了能给孩子的未来一个机会，日后享受与伴侣的退休生活。这都是期冀能有更好的生活。所以，这些矿工的生活就是追寻美国梦，他们也因此丧命。
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