Mario Gomez - at 63 the oldest of the men, who has been in the mining industry since the age of 12 - wrote the now famous note: "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33 - All 33 of us are fine in the refuge".
Speaking on board a US military plane en route to the two-day Nato meeting, Mr Gates said the new US administration was "prepared... to make additional commitments to Afghanistan, but there clearly will be expectations that the allies must do more as well".