Despite the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent campus shutdown, Marshall University celebrated the rebirth of the Thundering Herd’s football program during the annual spring fountain ceremony Saturday.
The Memorial Fountain was dedicated at Marshall University's Memorial Student Center on Nov. 12, 1972.
HUNTINGTON — What happened on the night of Nov. 14, 1970, is no secret to those who call Huntington home. But a memorial erected to honor a group of fraternity brothers who died in a plane crash that night — something that could be easily overlooked — was taken down Friday in order to restore it to its original state.
The following is a synopsis of the Putnam Rotary meeting of Tuesday, June 11. The Putnam Rotary meets at noon Tuesdays at Area 34. "It was the greatest disaster — ever — in any sports event," Dr. Bob Alexander told Putnam Rotarians today.
HUNTINGTON - Marshall offensive line coach Greg Adkins has run the gamut of experiences with the Thundering Herd football program.
Cheers erupted as water sprung from the Marshall Memorial Fountain toward the blue sky on a warm, sunny day.
ASHLAND — It was Nov. 14, 1970, and for Dr. Paul Lett a day off from his stressful job as director of the emergency room at Cabell Huntington Hospital. A carefree Saturday afternoon that the doctor used to paint a room in his house in Huntington's Greenbrier Heights neighborhood, wound up being a day he would never forget.
HUNTINGTON — Leslie Deese Garvis was only 6 months old when her father, Danny Deese, charter coordinator for Southern Airways Flight 932, perished among the 75 Thundering Herd teammates, coaches, staff, supporters and flight crew on Nov. 14, 1970. At noon Wednesday, Nov. 14, Garvis will take the stage as keynote speaker for the 48th Memorial Fountain Ceremony on Marshall University's Huntington campus.
HUNTINGTON - Reggie Oliver joked, sang and preached, but mostly, the starting quarterback of the Young Thundering Herd remembered.
HUNTINGTON - Through speeches and song Tuesday, the pattering of water against the copper tubing of the Marshall University Memorial Fountain could be heard until the last drop fell, signifying the end of 75 lives the copper represents.
For the first time, a person born after the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash that claimed 75 lives has been chosen to speak at the annual memorial of the tragic accident.
HUNTINGTON - Everywhere else, the turning of a knob to release the flow of water is routine. At Marshall University, it's recognition of the miraculous.
For almost 30 years, Dennis Foley had a hard time talking about his experience as a football player during the 1970 season at Marshall University.
We come every year.
Not from any feeling of obligation, duty or responsibility.
And, certainly, not because it's the social thing to do annually on November 14.
HUNTINGTON - Not many people can say they were the last to see someone alive.
Tom Raymond is one who can.
In November, 1970, Raymond was working on a Master's of Science degree at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. He told the school's sports information director about the photography skills he'd acquired while at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The SID asked him if he'd be interested in shooting East Carolina's home football games. He said yes.
For Dennis Foley, a compounding injury suffered while playing linebacker for Marshall University was the saving grace.
Danny D'Antoni doesn't talk much about "the crash."
He hasn't watched the "We Are Marshall" movie. He avoided the annual Nov. 14 fountain ceremony for more than 40 years. He bears his grief in silence like men were taught to do in his day.
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON - Marshall University officially brought the Memorial Fountain back to life Saturday during the annual spring fountain ceremony on campus.
Memorial speakers say even 45 years later, it is important to remember those who died in the 1970 Marshall plane crash.
HUNTINGTON - A change of plans will keep Katherine O'Connor Beiter from being in Huntington on Saturday during the 45th annual memorial service to remember the 75 victims of the 1970 Marshall University plane crash.
Stephen Ward was 5 years old when the Marshall plane crash occurred. Today, he's 50. His father, Parker Ward, died in the crash.
CHARLESTON -- At one point each nine weeks, teacher Melissa Case and her eighth-grade students at John Adams Middle School devote time to a sensitive subject.
The chill in the air was enough to form icicles that dangled from the Memorial Fountain on Marshall University's campus.
HUNTINGTON -- Had Ted Shoebridge lived, he would now be 64 years old, and long since retired from a playing career in the NFL or major league baseball.
HUNTINGTON — Got a twisted ankle, pulled hamstring or sore arm? Mark Smaha can help. The farm boy from Iowa was educated for that line of work.
HUNTINGTON — From 114 wins in the 90s to just 27 in the past six seasons. The slide from being the winningest program in college football to where the program rests today has been a major source of contention among Herd football fans, save at least one — Reggie Oliver.
Forty and four. For me, those two numbers really hit home this weekend.
What if? Every year during this particular week of November that eerie question echoes through the caverns of Dave Morris' mind.
I was on the next plane. The first time Marshall University athletics flew after the horrific plane crash in 1970, I was a passenger.
HUNTINGTON -- Even though it's been 38 years since the tragic Marshall plane crash, I still get a bit apprehensive each Nov. 14 as I approach the Memorial Student Center for the memorial service to remember the 75 people who lost their lives in the worst air disaster in sports history. This year, the apprehension was gone, replaced by anticipation. I, along with the Marshall community, would be reunited with a dear friend in a manner of speaking.
Nine-year-old Keith Morehouse didn't know his future was charted when his father died in the Marshall University plane crash 27 years ago today.
Something, as Reggie Oliver put it, told Jerome Hood now was his appointed time. Yes, tears would flow and pain would be felt. Those emotions always surface on a particular November day when Marshall University stops to remember the 75 people who lost their lives in what still ranks as the worst air tragedy in American sports history.
The caller's voice, Eugene Jones says, was not familiar. But his story was.
Editor's note: Cindy Arnold Pierce's parents, Charles Arnold and Rachel Baker, were among the 75 people killed in the Marshall plane crash Nov. 14, 1970. Her parents relocated their family to Huntington one year earlier in order for her father to run the office of Mutual of Omaha. He was the…
HUNTINGTON -- Listening to stories and looking at pictures. That's all Patty Smith can do to learn about the father she never knew.
IRONTON -- Charlie Kautz will be remembered here today.
Memories of Michael Prestera, Barry Nash, Mike Blake, Frank Loria, Charlie Kautz, Parker Ward, Dr. H.D. "Pete" and Courtney Proctor and Murrill and Helen Ralsten.
Read stories from former assistant Marshall coach Carl Kokor, former Herald-Dispatch sports writer Lowell Cade, WSAZ-TV news anchor Bos Johnson, community members Carolyn R. Barr, Gary Kline, Roger A. Hesson, Dave Marcum, Marshall teacher Elizabeth Hines Czompo, John and Elaine Whitfield, faculty wives, Kenova resident Jean Bailey, former acting Marshall University president Sam Clagg, mortuary owner Bob Carpenter and mortuary owner Lucy Rollins.
HUNTINGTON — Chris Jasperse looked around Friday morning and saw the faces of his younger Marshall University football teammates.
HUNTINGTON -- Sam Botek had a lot to smile about Saturday morning. The Toledo, Ohio, native found himself on the podium to serve as featured speaker at Marshall's Spring Fountain Ceremony where the Memorial Fountain at Memorial Student Center is turned on to signify the rebirth of Thundering…
HUNTINGTON — Turning on the fountain Saturday in the Memorial Student Plaza at Marshall University has a special memory for Margaret Topping of Parkersburg, W.Va.
HUNTINGTON -- Turning on the fountain Saturday in the Memorial Student Plaza at Marshall University has a special memory for Margaret Topping of Parkersburg, WV.
HUNTINGTON -- Sharon Holbrook of Cincinnati made a special delivery Monday to Marshall University.
HUNTINGTON — The sight of more than 2,000 students and Huntington community members in the Memorial Student Center Plaza on Marshall University's campus Thursday afternoon was a refreshing one for Young Thundering Herd quarterback Reggie Oliver.
HUNTINGTON -- Bill Forbes was a "knock-kneed freshman" donning the Herd's No. 33 jersey for the first time when, he said, he first felt the magnitude of the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash.
HUNTINGTON — Marshall University and the city of Huntington paused Wednesday afternoon to remember what happened 42 years ago on Nov. 14, 1970.
HUNTINGTON -- Father Robert Scott had a penchant for helping people through difficult times right to the very end of his life.
HUNTINGTON -- Geoff Carey isn't a Marshall graduate, but when he read about the Marshall Athletics Spring Fountain Celebration, he knew he had to bring his family on Saturday.
HUNTINGTON -- The Marshall University community came together Monday, Nov. 14, to remember the 75 victims of the 1970 plane crash.
HUNTINGTON -- Rick Meckstroth craned his neck a little, looking out at the Marshall University students who had paused in the middle of their busy day and gathered around the Memorial Fountain in the student center plaza.
HUNTINGTON -- To the inside of Vinny Curry's right shoulder is a tiny tribute to what has been a big part of his life.
HUNTINGTON — Rick Meckstroth craned his neck a little, looking out at the Marshall University students who had paused in the middle of their busy day and gathered around the Memorial Fountain in the student center plaza.
Two games in the 2011 Marshall University football season spelled out what Nov. 14 symbolizes for me.
HUNTINGTON — It’s been 40 years, nearly two generations, since a plane carrying 75 Marshall University players, coaches and supporters crashed just short of a landing at Tri-State Airport.
HUNTINGTON — Mickey Jackson, an assistant coach on the 1970 Marshall University football, team will talk about the “defining moment” for him and many others in Huntington when the community gathers on Sunday, Nov. 14, to remember 75 people who lost their lives 40 years ago today.
HUNTINGTON -- Hundreds gathered around the Marshall University Memorial Fountain on Saturday in honor of the 75 lives lost in the 1970 plane crash.
HUNTINGTON -- People with ties to Marshall University will pause Saturday to remember and honor victims of the greatest sports aviation disaster in history.
HUNTINGTON — The 1970 Marshall football schedule showed the Thundering Herd would visit East Carolina on Nov. 14. The catch to this road trip compared with the other four that season was how the team traveled. Bus out, chartered jet in.
HUNTINGTON -- Daniel and Madge Slay finally got to pay their respects to people they didn't know. The two did so 38 years after the fact. To top it off, it took a movie to inspire the two to drive in from Missouri for the special occasion.
HUNTINGTON -- The plane crash that killed 75 football players, coaches, staff, supporters and flight crew 38 years ago will always be a part of Marshall University's history.
HUNTINGTON — Each fall, there is a solemn ceremony when the Memorial Fountain at Marshall University is silenced.
HUNTINGTON -- Hysen Selman has seen the movie "We Are Marshall." Patty Smith, Selman's granddaughter who has ties to Marshall and Thundering Herd football, hasn't seen it.
HUNTINGTON - It's a scene that plays out on a near-daily basis.
HUNTINGTON -- When The Rev. Robert Scott celebrates Mass today at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, Texas, he'll offer up a special prayer to people touched in any way by the Marshall University plane crash on Nov. 14, 1970.
