Chile Miners' Legacy; One Year Later

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the accident that trapped 33 Chilean miners inside the San Jose Mine for 69 days.

Chile has planned a number of commemorative events to celebrate the men, who were pulled from the ground one-by-one after three months trapped together in the mine.

President Sebastian Pinera will lead a service in Copiapo, the city nearest to the mine. There will also be a mass held, at which the Phoenix II rescue capsule will serve as an altar piece.

The rescue of the men was a triumph, but the collapse and the scenes from inside the dark cave 2,000 feet in the ground were sobering realizations about the safety of mining operations in Chile.

"This accident was a lesson for us and we are working very hard since then to improve the safety of our industry," Mining Minister Hernan de Solminihac told BBC.

The mining sector has revamped its training program, as well as increased the number of mine inspections. In the first six months of 2011, the number of mine accidents was half as many as in the same period last year.

However, many of the miners themselves haven't been as successful as the industry for which they once worked.

Despite the fact that the minors became international celebrities while underground, many have found the past year difficult and "strange." Immediately after the capsule pulled all 33 men out of the ground, they were embraced by heads of state, and invited to appear at sporting events, on television shows, and even taken to Disney World.

Yet, despite their fame, many miners have been unable to find work and have found it difficult to cope with life above ground.

"Some have problems with their memories and they're suffering. We don't all have the same capacity to bounce back," de Solminihac said.

The miners have been closely monitored by doctors in the past year, both for signs of physical and mental trauma.

"They are taking uppers, downers, stabilizers," said lead doctor Jean Romagnoli said. "They don't understand why they are taking them but they are fed up with pills. It is not pills they need, but the tools to deal with fame and the tools to renovate themselves."

At 20 years old, Jimmy Sanchez was the youngest of the miners in the underground cavern. He had only been at the San Jose mine for a few months before the collapse, and he says he wants to be a miner again, but can't find work.

"Inside I was more relaxed," said Sanchez in a television interview. "Now I'm weird. I've changed... I used to be happier, I'd always go out, I liked to talk. I don't go out any more, I feel lonely."

Currently, the miners are suing San Esteban Mining, the company that operated the mine in the Atacama desert. The mine has been closed, and the hole where the 33 men were pulled to earth has been filled with cement. The area, which does attract visitors, has been blocked by a metal fence and a gate.

The celebration in Chile starts Friday and will conclude on Oct. 13, the one-year anniversary of the miners' rescue. The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. opened an exhibition Friday called Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine. An end date for the exhibit has not been set.