The tragedy shocked the town of Huntington in the worst way imaginable. Her recollections of the crash's aftermath are split. Harris Sr. told Slezak he had to keep his promises. He was a linebacker. Lengyel, who came from a coaching job at the College of Wooster, was hired by the recently hired athletic director Joe McMullen, under whom he had previously worked at the University of Akron in the 1950s. She never could explain it other than saying God had spoken to her. Tolley gladly gave Carter time off -- even bought him the plane ticket -- to travel back to bury his father. Hokie Stone is the native Virginia limestone that makes up many of the buildings on the Virginia Tech campus. Marshall University. Memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington, West Virginia to the victims of the 1970 plane crash. Page of 4. The ceremony was held by invitation-only due to the coronavirus pandemic and was made available online. He was the offensive tackle. Digitized University Archives Collections. New coach Jack Lengyel, Marshall University students, and Thundering Herd football fans convinced acting Marshall president, Donald N. Dedmon, to reconsider cancelling the program in late 1970. "I took the phone, but Mrs. Shoebridge was crying hysterically. His life was spared that night a half century ago. Beamer was at his wife-to-be's home that November night. I had 75 angels there.". Does FSU or any ACC power actually have options? No one will ever know exactly how Harris Sr. ended up on the plane. "God has a time for each one of us," Carter said. var _gaq = _gaq || []; Artwork by Eugene Payne, Staff Artist, The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, N.C. On Nov. 14, 1970, the chartered jet crashed in fog and rain into a hillside upon approach to an airport near Huntington as the team was returning from a game at East Carolina, killing all 75 on board. It was a rainy night. Its not an anniversary, but its a day to remember. Yes, we grieve. Digital Collections Then success occurred in streaks. Marshall's defensive coordinator did not return home with the team. "It was losing faith in these ministers. I told him, 'I'm afraid those guys are going to hate you because you're so hard on them.' Marshall Thundering Herd cheerleaders react as a video saluting the 1970 team that was killed in a plane crash is shown on the scoreboard prior to. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, USA . briefly mourned after the 17-14 defeat, but what happened after the game shook the school and the town to its core. Sketch is matted and framed. The 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team was an American football team that represented Marshall University as an independent during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. I knew as soon as I saw the police car. Memorial Fountain on the Marshall University campus, dedicated in 1972. I dont know what to call it.. Frank got the whole team out and they went up and placed that Hokie Stone on the memorial. "It wasn't losing faith," she said. [2][7] The plane burst into flames and created a swath of charred ground 95ft (29m) wide and 279ft (85m) long. He said, 'What the hell is going on with Virginia Tech?' It went beyond physical damage. [25], The events of the crash are documented in an episode of Aircrash Confidential titled "Disastrous Descents".[27]. Fr. "She was wonderful," Mary Jane Tolley said of Sturmisch. It has taken her more than a year. As a memorial to the 75 victims, the Marshall players wore the number 75 on their helmets. The NCAA granted Marshall permission to use freshmen on the varsity squad, something which was not allowed at the time. > They turned around, headed back home and immediately got lost. Yes, we hurt, Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick said. Frank Loria was one of Beamer's best friends. Marshall is ranked No. The five Southern Airlines employees also died in the crash. "It was not a premonition. After the plane crash, she became the only thing that I had.". Varsity Aces Live: Marshall Football Plane Crash 50th Anniversary. Lives were shattered. "God is your pilot. The controller gave them clearance to land. On Saturday, 75 candles surrounded the fountain. After suffering the loss to East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970, a majority of the Marshall team boarded Southern Airlines Flight 932. "Couldn't keep the tears out of my eyes. New Bern National Cemetery. It has been so long that the tragedy has been memorialized that Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick has calculated that the date falls on a Saturday every seven years. He was also the offensive line coach. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Red Dawson was admittedly bitter. God's providence? "I can remember the hurt in my stomach like it was yesterday," Beamer said. The team finished the 1971 season with a 2-8 record, but just winning a single game was a miracle after what Marshall went through a season prior. The solemn ceremony was held around a fountain dedicated to the crash victims on Marshall's Huntington campus. [4] The controllers advised the crew that "rain, fog, smoke and a ragged ceiling" were at the airport, making landing more difficult, but possible. The Mid-American Conference also expelled the team for similar offenses. Charles Kautz, 1970 MU Athletic Director, b&w. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) A bill has won final legislative approval in West Virginia that would establish an annual day of recognition for the worst sports disaster in U.S. history, a plane crash that killed most of Marshall University's football team. All Rights Reserved. Never forget. [4], At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, since most away games were within easy driving distance of the campus. December 10, 2006 Herald-Dispatch [Huntington]. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Charlie Kautz had lived long enough to give away Lucianne at her wedding only five months earlier. That game did not occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "That was the biggest farce you've ever seen," she said. As a 21-year-old newlywed senior cheerleader at Marshall, she read the news of the crash on the crawl at the bottom of a television screen. It's called survivor's guilt, the feeling of unfairly surviving an incident when others did not. Private. He met with former Marshall coach Red Dawson, who gave away his seat on the plane that night. Insurance agents were annoying. Two weeks before the release of the movie, Call was diagnosed with colon cancer. Hill died in the 1970 plane crash. briefly mourned after the 17-14 defeat, but what happened after the game shook the school and the town to its core. They became friends and fished together. The bill establishes that Nov. 14 will become a special memorial day in remembrance of the crash. They arrived shortly before sunrise. Near Huntington, West Virginia. The Lord watched over me so that he could save me and put me in the ministry to serve him.". Huntington, West Virginia: The four remaining starters from the 1970 first string team of Marshall University take time out to pause at flower arrangement placed at Marshall Field following the devastating plane crash that killed all 75 aboard. With 37 players gone due to the horrific tragedy, the NCAA allowed Marshalls freshmen players to suit up the next season. Officials at the site of the Nov. 14, 1970, Marshall University plane crash at Tri-State Airport in Kenova, W.Va., secure a charred engine for removal to an airport hangar. "Red," Call said recently, "where you going to be buried?". [24], Marshall was scheduled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the air disaster in their football season opener on August 29, 2020. The trip took 20 hours. Huntington, WV 25755. Rick, he ran them off. It slipped out from underneath him, according to Dawson, and Oliver hit his head. On Friday, the 36 players who died in the crash received degrees from Marshall in their fields of study. The Harris family detailed thatevening in a 1995 article in The Record. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. The Flight Crew of Southern Airways Flight 932: Captain Frank H. Abbott, Jr. , aged 47, was employed by Southern Airways, Inc., on July 21, 1949. Forty years from the time they had last seen each other -- the day before the crash -- the teacher saw the student and asked, "Soletta, is that you?". Dawson goes to games again. At 7:36pm on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board in what has been recognized as "the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. "We'd always rode buses.". Normally in that situation, the cheerleaders would draw straws to see who went. A bill has won final legislative approval in West Virginia that would establish an annual day of recognition for the worst sports disaster in U.S. history, a plane crash that killed most of Marshall University's football team. Wichita Falls is 1,100 miles from Huntington. Rosanna Blake Library of Confederate History, Jim "Shorty" Moss (Offensive Coordinator), Ed Starling (Assistant Director of Athletics), Mark J. Smaha (Assistant Athletic Trainer), Louis A. Peake (Assistant Athletic Trainer), James H. Wilson (Assistant Athletic Trainer), Mervin G. Black (Assistant Equipment Manager), Eugene Jones (Assistant Football Manager), Gerald Sieber (Assistant Football Manager), David W. Byrd (Student Equipment Manager), Special Collections, Morrow Library, He was the center. Rick played football at nearby Virginia Tech. Tolley's grave was moved up there a few years ago. She traveled to Washington, D.C. for the hearings that were supposed to explain the crash. Roy Slezak refuses to call it an anniversary. He and the sycamore have aged well. Not surprisingly, Call will be the keynote speaker at Saturday's memorial. Defensive back. That's the unseen damage left a half century later after a Southern Airways DC- 9 carrying the Thundering Herd back from a game at East Carolina crashed into a hill a mile short of the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia. At 7:34pm, the airliner's crew reported passing Tri-State Airport's outer marker. Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Kenova and Ceredo, West Virginia. Scott Jenkins. Among the losses were nearly the entire Marshall University football team, coaches, flight crew, numerous fans, and supporters. At the time, freshmen couldnt play varsity sports in college. He became acting head coach in 1971, and formed the "Young Thundering Herd". Virginia Tech's coach had a plan for the pregame. "All of them were fighting and arguing over each other about whose fault it was. Plymales mother attended a funeral in North Carolina, and her family became close friends with the victims family. Football seeped out of his life. Spring Hill Cemetery, site of the Marshall Memorial for the 75 plane crash victims. The rebuilding was the subject of the 2006 movie We are Marshall starring Matthew McConaughey as Lengyel. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. [16] The committee decided upon one major memorial within the campus, a plaque and memorial garden at Fairfield Stadium, and a granite cenotaph at the Spring Hill Cemetery; the Memorial Student Center was designated a memorial as well.[17]. "They were all crying, all these huge linemen," Mary Jane said. The aircraft began its normal descent after passing the outer marker, but did not arrest its descent and hold altitude at 1,240ft (380m), as required by the assigned instrument approach procedure. "It was horrible because it was a non-ending funeral. I'll be right over.' Former Marshall cheerleader Lucianne Kautz Call lost her father, Charlie E. Kautz, who was the universitys athletic director. [20], On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque was dedicated at the plane crash site. At the time of the crash, Harris Jr. led Marshall in rushing and kick returns. One day, the wife of the head coach was in class. Dawson eventually became a successful construction company owner. "I didn't want anybody to see me crying. Pure chance, some cases. Vast amounts of funerals took place in the weeks and months following the tragedy, which had to be planned in accordance with each other so services wouldn't overlap. Among those in the fountain audience were four football players from East Carolina who played in that 1970 game. "I got a call from our operations guy. Not only that, she happened to be on a flight during 9/11. [12] Lengyel led the Thundering Herd to a 933 record during his tenure, which ended after the 1974 season. The Tolleys were ingrained in the community. He said, No, you keep your commitment, that is what you do, there will be other games, Slezak said. "The Young Herd" that carried on in 1971 had a new coach, Jack Lengyel. Bobby East, driver of the #21 Ford during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, died Wednesday, July 13, 2022, after being fatally stabbed at a gas station in Westminster, Calif. | "Al" Saylor, #88,1970 MU Football team, Charles Kautz, MU A/D and coaches, 1970 MU football team, Dave Griffith, #81, 1970 MU Football team. The college town agreed with him. "As I listened to the scriptures," Carter said, "the Lord has purpose for each one of our lives.". Eventually, Rick won over their hearts and minds. One of Dawson's greatest contributions may have been the recruiting of four African-American athletes out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Anniversaries are supposed to be happy, Slezak said from his home in New Mexico. Hamrick's future wife, Soletta, was in Mary Jane's sixth-grade home room back then. history.[6]. It was real big-time negligence. "[7]:36 At least one source says that water that had seeped into the plane's altimeter could have thrown off its height readings, leading the pilots to believe the plane was higher than was actually the case. [16] The sculpture's designer, Harry Bertoia, created the $25,000 memorial that incorporated bronze, copper tubing, and welding rods. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. This event taught me how to celebrate someones life. The 6500 lb, 13 ft-high (2900 kg, 4 m-high) sculpture was completed within a year and a half. Most of his teammates were gone, forever. On November 14, 1970, the team was flying back from a game against East Carolina. This plaza and this fountain are the heart of Marshall University, university President Jerome Gilbert said. Huntington, West Virginia: The four remaining starters from the 1970 first string team of Marshall University take time out to pause at flower arrangement placed at Marshall Field following the devastating plane crash that killed all 75 aboard. Charles Kautz is third from right, with tie. The official cause for the crash was either altimeter malfunction or pilot error. "Nobody did anything. According to the official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, the accident was "unsurvivable". Digitized University Archives Collections The solemn ceremony was held around a fountain dedicated to the crash victims on Marshalls Huntington campus. Never defeated. That was an overwhelming responsibility.". In 2011, Frank Beamer directed the Virginia Tech team buses to detour on their way to Marshall's Joan C. Edwards Stadium. "I'm still wondering why.". It was the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history. Another plaque memorializing the 1970 Marshall football team was unveiled at East Carolina University on the same day and can be seen at the guest team entrance of DowdyFicklen Stadium. On Saturday, it will be Middle Tennessee State. Without an official designation, she has become the best historian of the events of 50 years ago. That is certainly what was going to happen.". On November 14, 1970 a DC-9 airliner carrying the Marshall University football team, coaches, and supporters crashed on final approach to Tri-State Airport n. Art Harris, #22, 1970 MU Football team, b&w. He was like a sounding board.". 2023 Marshall University. Call is giddy talking about Marshall president Jerome Gilbert's initiative to award all 36 players their diplomas at a Friday afternoon ceremony. You see, out of the tragedy has come not a celebration but an annual realization that some good has been made out of the worst thing imaginable. They all had said great things about him. "The teammates liked the Tuscaloosa boys unbelievably," Dawson said, "especially when Reggie got there.". Banners will be raised across the Marshall campus bearing their images. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Art was All-State, he was sought out by every major college on the East Coast, Slezak remembered. Memorial newspaper page from The Herald-Advertiser. Charles A. There are so many stories of folks who either got a spot on the plane at the last minute or were bumped off. There is already a plot there for one more. Before the noon ET game, a crowd will gather at Spring Hill Cemetery once again to observe the past but also celebrate what they and the university have become. But as a freshman in 1970, Oliver didn't travel. Dawson noticed him wiping his eyes. > Authorities continually brought "old charred things" to her hoping to gain the identity of victims. A plaque was placed on the base on August 10, 1973, reading: They shall live on in the hearts of their families and friends forever and this memorial records their loss to the university and the community. In the report, the NTSB concluded, "[] the probable cause of this accident was the descent below Minimum Descent Altitude during a nonprecision approach under adverse operating conditions, without visual contact with the runway environment". Kenova native and Grammy-award winner Michael W. Smith opened the ceremony by singing Amazing Grace. He told the audience that he was 13 when the plane crashed eight minutes from his house. Gone were sons, fathers, mothers, classmates and fraternity brothers. Marshall University honors the 75 lives lost in the 1970 plane crash tragedy during the 48th Annual Memorial Service on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018 . David Debord, #76, 1970 MU Football team, b&w. His body could not be identified, and with five other players, they were all buried. The crew established radio contact with air traffic controllers at 7:23 pm with instructions to descend to 5,000ft (1,500m). | "When the 14th of November comes around every year, all the worms and stuff start getting in your head," Dawson said. The next day, Mary Jane was gone. Carter can't recall how a Marshall assistant found his film in the late 1960s. All 75 people on board died. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But for the university and the entire community, it left a huge void. Ferrum won the national junior college championship his first year there in 1965. This flight was the only flight that year for the Marshall University football team. Tri-State airport installed a glide slope using federal funds in 1972. So I think this is another step along in that healing process., FILE - A memorial plaque is displayed at the site of a 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including 36 Marshall football players, on Oct. 24, 2020, near Huntington, W.Va. A bill has won final legislative approval Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in West Virginia, that would establish an annual day of recognition for the worst sports disaster in U.S. history. Marshall University, [4][9], The effects of the crash on Huntington went far beyond the Marshall campus. (JACK BURNETT/AP), "We carry on the legacy for them, but even after all those who were personally connected are gone, those guys still deserve to be remembered because it's just a travesty, what happened. In 1968, Dawson was hired by new Marshall coach Perry Moss as defensive coordinator. For Slezak, a retired banker/computer engineer, Saturday's 50th anniversary of the crash is an emotional occasion. "'The phrase is about respect, and it makes you realize you can't take anything for granted. Slezak went to visit Marshall in 2011, saying it was on his bucket list. This time, they decided if all couldn't go, none of them could go. Cabell County Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel said he was 17 years old driving in his car in Huntington when news of the crash came on the radio. Without any particular reason, Carter stayed. 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team, 1970 NCAA University Division independents football records, 1970 NCAA University Division football season, "Memories of Marshall; ex-player says shock of crash never ends", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1970_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team&oldid=1109112752, 1970 NCAA University Division independents football season, Marshall Thundering Herd football seasons, Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using CFB schedule with named parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 September 2022, at 01:19. Marshall fans and residents of Huntington, W.V. "We stayed friends forever," Dawson said proudly. In 2006, Hollywood turned that inspiring slogan into one of the greatest sports movies ever made. 77 memorials. If you play football at Marshall University, you have a role to make sure that's never forgotten.". "He said: 'Your husband is in the plane, too.' During the 1970 college football season, Marshall suffered a devastating loss to East Carolina in week 9 to drop the Thundering Herd to 3-6 on the year.