By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- President Obama will deliver a eulogy on Sunday for the 29 workers killed in a mine explosion in West Virginia.
Before the service in Beckley, the president and Vice President Joe Biden will meet privately with the miners' relatives.
"All the hard work. All the hardship. All the time spent underground. It was all for their families. For a car in the driveway. For a roof overhead. For a chance to give their kids opportunities they never knew; and enjoy retirement with their wives," Obama will say in his eulogy, according to excerpts that the White House made available.
"It was all in the hopes of something better. These miners lived -- as they died -- in pursuit of the American dream".
The April 5 blast at the Upper Big Branch Mine was the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1972, when 91 miners died in a fire at the Sunshine Mine in Kellogg, Idaho.
Obama ordered a review, saying the mine explosion was due in part to failures by both the management and loopholes in existing laws and regulations.
"We cannot bring back the men we lost. What we can do, in their memory, is thoroughly investigate this tragedy and demand accountability," the president said soon after the explosion.
Obama called Massey Energy Co., the coal producer that owns the mine, a "safety violator" and described the safety record at the mine as "troubled".
Massey Energy later called Obama's criticism "regrettable" and defended its safety record. "We fear that the president has been misinformed about our record and the mining industry in general," the company said.
CNN
