Calm & courageous leadership led 32 men through darkest hours: 70 days. He's the last of 33 trapped Chilean miners rescued

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Residents observe the rescue of the miners trapped in the San Jose mine, on a large screen in a public square in Copiapo October 12, 2010.

The capsule carrying a rescued miner arrives to the surface from the collapsed mine where he was trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile on Oct. 13, 2010.

Family members approach the capsule containing miner Richard Villaroel as he is rescued from the collapsed mine.

Miner Luis Urzua, the last miner to be rescued, center wearing green, celebrates next to Chile's President Sebastian Pinera after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose mine on Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010. The 69-day underground ordeal reached its end Wednesday night after 33 trapped miners were hauled up one by one in a cage through a narrow hole drilled through 2,000 feet of rock.

Trapped miner Esteban Rojas kneels to pray after reaching the surface to became the 18th to be rescued from the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 13, 2010.

Chilean miners rescue: all 33 men out
Luis Urzúa, whose calm leadership guided his colleagues through their darkest hours, became the last of the 33 trapped Chilean miners to be freed early this morning, rising to the surface of the Atacama desert as the epic, 22-hour rescue operation drew to a close.

The 54-year-old foreman ascended smoothly through nearly 700m (2,260ft) of rock in the Fenix 2 rescue capsule to tell the Chilean president, Sebastían Piñera, and a crowd of 2,000 jubilant onlookers: "We have done what the entire world was waiting for. The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."

The quick and flawlessly executed rescue operation exceeded expectations at every step. Officials first said it might be four months before they could get the men out; it turned out to be 69 days and about eight hours.

Once the escape tunnel was finished, they estimated it would take 36 to 48 hours to get all the miners to the surface. Speed picked up as the operation went along, and all the miners were safely above ground in 22 hours, 37 minutes.

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Photos courtesy of Reuters / Mariana Bazo, AP Photo / Roberto Candia, Government of Chile and AP Photo / Hugo Infante

Image Gallery: Rescued from a Chilean mine