"It made you wretch," Brunner said, "and I did several times.". FAQ After the plane crash, she became the only thing that I had.". Football made sense to him.". Among the losses were nearly the entire Marshall University football team, coaches, flight crew, numerous fans, and supporters. 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?". The two didn't get along, according to Dawson. The crew established radio contact with air traffic controllers at 7:23 pm with instructions to descend to 5,000ft (1,500m). > "I didn't do anything except for fishing, hunting and construction work," he said. HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) Marshall University commemorated the 50th anniversary of one of the worst sports disasters in U.S. history Saturday, a plane crash that killed most of the football team. Page 1. Hewlett gave Carter a pamphlet titled, "Steps To Peace With God." His jersey hangs in Passaic High School. They all had said great things about him. The airliner's crew was Captain Frank Abbot (47), First Officer Jerry Smith (28), plus two flight attendants. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Marshall decided to continue the football program. 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. It has taken her more than a year. The Ceredo and Kenova fire departments were recognized at the event. There is already a plot there for one more. "God is your pilot. [20], On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque was dedicated at the plane crash site. "I always loved to fly," she said. > On the flight, were 37 members of the football team, several coaches, fans and crew members totaling 75. [22], On Nov. 14, 1970, 75 people died in the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. history, when a Southern Airways DC-9 crashed into a hillside nearby.The victims included 36 Marshall University football players, 9 coaches and administrators, 25 fans and air crew of 5.No one survived this horrific disaster.[1]. Mary Jane was persistent. Red Dawson was admittedly bitter. Loria became Marshall's defensive backs coach in 1970. They couldn't see. But for the university and the entire community, it left a huge void. At the time of the crash, Harris Jr. led Marshall in rushing and kick returns. The Harris family detailed thatevening in a 1995 article in The Record. The victims included 36 football players and 39 school administrators, coaches, fans, spouses and flight crew. To this day, she isn't satisfied. The Thundering Herd upset Xavier, 15-13, in an emotional victory for the ages. Marshall fans and residents of Huntington, W.V. 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. Yolanda Shoebridge, the mother ofTed Shoebridge, called the Harris home on Linden Street. Dawson was not on the plane when it crashed. In 1968, Dawson was hired by new Marshall coach Perry Moss as defensive coordinator. At 7:36 p.m. Nov. 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board. If her husband was too hard-nosed or too tough, those notions were dispelled in the days after her world was turned upside down. On Saturday, 75 candles surrounded the fountain. A bunch of her husband's former linemen were lining the walls of her living room. Those were diplomas they never had a chance to receive. 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. 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. Art Shannon, #34, 1970 MU Football team, b&w. Artwork by Eugene Payne, Staff Artist, The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, N.C.". They even won a couple of games. One of Dawson's greatest contributions may have been the recruiting of four African-American athletes out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. - The Yeti Airlines flight with 68. "That was the biggest farce you've ever seen," she 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. (aka "The Marshall University Football Team Crash") November 14th, 1970. Six weeks before the Marshall tragedy, a plane carrying members of the Wichita State football team crashed in Colorado, killing 31 people. At the time, freshmen couldnt play varsity sports in college. Libraries That day nine years ago, "Frank Beamer became a very special person in my mind," Hamrick said. According to the official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, the accident was "unsurvivable". Charlie Kautz had lived long enough to give away Lucianne at her wedding only five months earlier. [15], Marshall University President John G. Barker and Vice President Dedmon appointed a memorial committee soon after the crash. He wanted them to learn about the Frank Loria he admired so much. | Most of his teammates were gone, forever. "I was wondering when somebody is going to come up and say, 'You can't do that,' " Dawson said. In 2000, at age 50, Call became a flight attendant with USAir Express. In the days before instant news, the fog of tragedy took time to lift. There's no evidence any of those left behind were ever formally diagnosed with survivor's guilt, but you can hear it directly or indirectly when the incident is spoken about. "They were just so wonderful. Beamer was at his wife-to-be's home that November night. I knew as soon as I saw the police car. Yes, we grieve. It is the center of activity of the campus. Members of the current team also visited a nearby cemetery, where six players from the 1970 team whose bodies were never identified were buried. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Shops and government offices closed; businesses on the town's main street draped their windows in black bunting," History.com reported. MU_PLANE_CRASH. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. We'll look at what happened to the Marshall University football program as a . In 2006, Hollywood turned that inspiring slogan into one of the greatest sports movies ever made. He was the center. Jack Lengyel was hired as the new coach in 1971. Dawson played tight end for Bill Peterson in the early 1960s at Florida State. And on Saturday, the 16th-ranked football team won, defeating Middle Tennessee 42-14. It was the second college football team plane crash in a little over a month, after the October 2 crash that killed 31 (head coach, 14 Wichita State players, and 16 others). "The Young Herd" that carried on in 1971 had a new coach, Jack Lengyel. Seventy children had at least one parent die in the crash, with 18 of them left orphaned. Harris, I have bad news.' Gone were sons, fathers, mothers, classmates and fraternity brothers. The tragedy was depicted in the movie We Are Marshall (2006) and the documentary film Marshall University: Ashes to Glory (2000). When he passed, Loria's wife was pregnant with Frank Loria Jr. Beamer guided the buses to the memorial. "I didn't want anybody to see me crying. Charges dropped against Georgia WR Rara Thomas, UCLA, Kelly agree to extension through 2027, Four Pac-12 programs renew contact with Big 12, NCAA committee approves new college football rules, Saban sounds off on proposed permanent opponents. As a memorial to the 75 victims, the Marshall players wore the number 75 on their helmets. It was impossible for the remaining Marshall players to forget about their fallen teammates, but they had to when the 1971 season approached. [21], November 14, 2013, marked the first time that Marshall had played a road game on an anniversary of the disaster. Cemetery Visibility: Public. Plymale said 64 children lost one or both of their parents in the crash. | "Apparently, it was time God saw fit to call them.". (East Carolina is located nearby in Greenville.) All were qualified for the flight. "As I listened to the scriptures," Carter said, "the Lord has purpose for each one of our lives.". This time, they decided if all couldn't go, none of them could go. [1][2], The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, two pilots, two flight attendants, and a charter coordinator. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Before the trip, they were scheduled to go on a recruiting mission to Ferrum College after the ECUMarshall game, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to recruit junior college linebacker Billy Joe Mantooth. Football seeped out of his life. There was no playbook, and nobody had been in that position before.". "That had taken a toll on my football coaching, a lot of bad things. The Mid-American Conference also expelled the team for similar offenses. Back in 1970, he had already attended a pair of Marshall games with Harris Sr. (Huntington, W.Va. is about a nine-hour drive from Passaic) and was approached to go down to see the Thundering Herd play East Carolina. briefly mourned after the 17-14 defeat, but what happened after the game shook the school and the town to its core. After suffering the loss to East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970, a majority of the Marshall team boarded Southern Airlines Flight 932. Marshall coach Rick Tolley demonstrating a move to team captain Dave Griffith, Mike Blake and Dave DeBord (left to right) in 1970. The rest were pilots, crew, coaches, administrators, boosters and business leaders. There were injured players who stayed behind. 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. That's why, when a vet recommended Mary Jane stay home that weekend of Nov. 14 because a tumor had developed in Sturmisch's toe, there was no hesitation. [4], The NTSB investigated the accident and its final report was issued on April 14, 1972. After a year as Wake Forest's defensive line coach, Tolley was hired at Marshall in 1969. On the 50th anniversary, they're both still around. Later in the season, Marshall also upset Bowling Green State, 12-10. The decision had already been made regarding cheerleaders for that trip. All six players would later be put to rest underground at the Spring Hill Cemetery just near Marshall University. The Hokies were in town to play the Herd. Woelfel, who had a speaking part in the movie, said it brought a lot of people back together to deal with the loss and they did it collectively. 2023 Marshall University. history". While Wichita State ended its football program in 1986, Marshall carried on. "All these guys, about 50 of them, came out for football. The actual damage was incalculable. Sturmisch lived to be 13. "I took the phone, but Mrs. Shoebridge was crying hysterically. He was an incredible all-around athlete. After an uneventful flight, the crew contacted Huntington Airport tower at 7:23 p.m. and were cleared for a localizer approach on runway 11. DAntoni is now Marshalls basketball coach. Carter can't recall how a Marshall assistant found his film in the late 1960s. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Lyndhurst's Tom Shoebridge, brother of crash victim Ted Shoebridge, and Elmwood Park's Keith Karl, a freshman on the 1970 Marshall team, join the show. "'The phrase is about respect, and it makes you realize you can't take anything for granted. He has accomplished that goal. At age 69, the former Marshall defender calls himself a "traveling preacher." With 37 players gone due to the horrific tragedy, the NCAA allowed Marshalls freshmen players to suit up the next season. Loria had been a two-time All-American at Virginia Tech. All were on the travel squad list before the plane crash. "It was horrible because it was a non-ending funeral. Bill to set annual remembrance for Marshall plane crash There is still a hint of that strapping tight end's body. Tragedy struck Marshall University more than a half-century ago, when most of the school's football program was involved in a plane crash . About 10 years ago at a reunion, Mary Jane glanced across the room. A Tragic Plane Crash in 1970 Killed Most of Marshall's - Sportscasting He played Defensive end. The solemn ceremony was held around a fountain dedicated to the crash victims on Marshalls Huntington campus. In the transcript of their cockpit communications in the final minutes, the pilots briefly debated that their autopilot had "captured" for a glide slope descent, although the airport was only equipped with a localizer. Frank got the whole team out and they went up and placed that Hokie Stone on the memorial. 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. The rebuilding was the subject of the 2006 movie We are Marshall starring Matthew McConaughey as Lengyel. The flight shouldve been nothing more than a formality, but the team would never reach their destination back in Huntington. We didn't have children, so she was like a child. MU plane crash historical marker, Wayne County, W.Va. Southern Airways DC-9, similiar to plane that crashed with MU football team, Dedication of Memorial Fountain to MU plane crash victims, Nov. 12, 1972, William Alfred "Red" Dawson, Asst. She went to the premiere in a wheelchair prior to her first chemotherapy treatment. That's German for "stormy." "In my case, it became clear four years later. Roy Slezak refuses to call it an anniversary. When police needed a list of those on the plane, they came to the Kautzes' home. Two years ago, Oliver, the personable quarterback, leaned back in a chair. A fireman on Nov. 15, 1970, looks over the wreckage of a DC-9 jet that crashed the day before on approach near a mountaintop airport a few miles from Huntington, W.Va. (Associated Press). That included 37 Marshall football players, 25 team boosters, multiple coaches and team doctors, and Marshalls athletic director. And then, after the game, if Slezak had been there, would that have deterred Art Sr. from getting on the plane? While in the air, the plane struck a tree on a tall hill and crashed to the ground. Featured speakers were Chancellor Steve Ballard, Athletic Director Terry Holland, Pirates' broadcaster Jeff Charles, and Marshall president, Stephen Kopp. "You couldn't count on it," Dawson said. A week later, he died at age 66 as a result of the injury. He was 37. history.[6]. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. Page of 4. David Debord, #76, 1970 MU Football team, b&w. Police reported a few hours after the crash that "15 bodies had been recovered," but the fire was so intense that they were unable to get into the plane to examine further, The News wrote that year. Things were going swimmingly two weeks before the East Carolina game. 50 years, McConaughey said Saturday on Twitter. Gallery: Victims of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash Former WSAZ-TV reporter Bob Brunner shared with CBS Sports, in disturbing detail, the sights and smells he experienced that night trudging up the hill and witnessing the wreckage. Captain Frank H. Abbott, Jr. , aged 47, was employed by Southern Airways, Inc.. Marshall University Football Team Players: James Michael Adams, of Mansfield, Ohio - Guard, Mark Raeburn Andrews, of Cincinnati, Ohio - Offensive Guard, Mike Francis Blake, of Huntington, West Virginia - Linebacker, Dennis Michael Blevins, of Bluefield, West Virginia - Wide Receiver, Willie Bluford Jr., of Greenwood, South Carolina - Wide receiver, Larry Brown, of Atlanta, Georgia - Defensive Guard, Thomas Wayne Brown, of Richmond, Virginia - Defensive Guard, Roger Keith Childers, of St. Albana, West Virginia, Stuart Spence Cottrell, of Eustis, Florida - Defensive Back, Richard Lee Dardinger, of Mount Vernon, Ohio - Center, David Grant DeBord, of Quincy, Florida - Offensive Tackle, Kevin Francis Gilmore, of Harrison, New Jersey - Halfback, David Dearing Griffith, Jr, of Clarksville, Virginia - Defensive End, Arthur W. Harris, of Passaic, New Jersey - Halfback, Robert Anthony Harris, of Cincinnati, Ohio - Quarterback, Bob Wayne Hill, of Dallas, Texas - Defensive Back, Joe Lee Hood, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Halfback, James Thomas Howard Jr., of Milton, West Virginia - Offensive Guard, Marcelo H. Lajterman, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey - Kicking Specialist, Richard Adam Lech, of Columbus, Ohio - Defensive Back, Barry Winston Nash, of Accoville, West Virginia - Tight End, Patrick Jay Norrell, of Hartsdale, New York - Offensive Guard, James Robert Patterson, of Louisburg, North Carolina - Offensive Tackle, Scottie Lee Reese, of Waco, Texas - Defensive End, John Anton Repasy Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio - Wide Reciever, Larry Sanders, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Defensive Back, Charles Alan "Al" Saylor, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - Defensive End, Arthur Kirk Shannon, of Greensboro, North Carolina - Linebacker, Lionel Ted Shoebridge, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey - Quarterback, Allen Gene Skeens, of Ravenswood, West Virginia - Center, Jerry Dodson Stainback, of Newport News, Virginia - Linebacker, Donald Tackett, Jr., of Paden City, West Virginia, Robert James Van Horn, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Tackle, Roger Arnie Vanover, of Russell, Kentucky - Defensive End, Freddie Clay Wilson, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Tackle, John Patton Young, of Buckhannon, West Virginia - Tight End, Thomas Jonathan Zborill, of Richmond, Virginia - Defensive End, Charles Arnold, of Huntington, West Virginia, Rachel Lynette Arnold, of Huntington, West Virginia, Dr. Joseph Chambers, of Huntington, West Virginia - Local physician, Margaret Chambers, of Huntington, West Virginia, Dr. Ray Hagley, of Huntington, West Virginia - Local physician, Shirley Ann Hagley, of Huntington, West Virginia, Arthur L. Harris, of Passaic, New Jersey - Father of player Art Harris, E.O. "Kenova to dedicate crash memorial Monday." At 7:34pm, the airliner's crew reported passing Tri-State Airport's outer marker. They did care a lot about him. Kautz died in the 1970 plane crash. 1970 aviation accident in West Virginia, United States, A Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident, Pinkston, Antwon. He had to rent a car to get to the game,then asked if there were seats on the plane to get back to Marshall. That bitterness lingered. (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. Dawson's brother had been recruited by Bryant, so there was a relationship. There are so many stories of folks who either got a spot on the plane at the last minute or were bumped off. "He said: 'Your husband is in the plane, too.' Virginia Tech's coach had a plan for the pregame. The NCAA made an exception for the Thundering Herd. From that moment, we became one family.. Among those who were not on the Marshall plane were Red Dawson, an assistant coach who was driving on a recruiting trip and was heading home when he learned about the crash. Call is giddy talking about Marshall president Jerome Gilbert's initiative to award all 36 players their diplomas at a Friday afternoon ceremony. On a rainy hill side in Wayne County, West Virginia, the lives of 75 people were lost in the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history. Dawson and Parker were buying boiled peanuts at a country store in rural Virginia when they heard the news over the radio. [25], The events of the crash are documented in an episode of Aircrash Confidential titled "Disastrous Descents".[27]. Shortly thereafter, he surrendered his life to Christ. He was 37. (JACK BURNETT/AP) 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's called survivor's guilt, the feeling of unfairly surviving an incident when others did not. When Lengyel was hired as Tolley's replacement, Dawson stayed but only for a while. Smith became the football team's spokesperson at the annual ceremony, where he delivers an annual message to parents, siblings, friends and coworkers of the victims who are still heartbroken by the tragedy that takes them back in time. Skeens was killed in the plane crash. In fact, it was stronger than that. So why would anyone living with all that baggage intentionally go up in the air? What good is it going to do anybody?' "Red," Call said recently, "where you going to be buried?". The event marked a boundary by which an entire community would forever . Or would he have gotten on the plane himself? He said,'Mrs. She spoke of her husband's early days as an assistant at Ferrum Junior College in Virginia. Plane Crash Memorial - Accident Report - Special Collections Across the nation, many expressed their condolences. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- 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 . This college football 1970s season article is a stub. The inspiring story even made it to the big screen in 2006. They couldn't take the tough routine. [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]. "Where nobody could see me," Dawson said of his hiding spot. She graduated from Marshall in 1971. Who were the victims of the Marshall University plane crash? The pair were listening to country music when the bulletin came across that a plane had crashed in Huntington. That begins to describe some of that enduring guilt. 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. I never wanted to miss a chance to see Art play.. The ceremony was held by invitation-only due to the coronavirus pandemic and was made available online. (Bettmann/Bettmann Archive), "'We Are Marshall' just stuck," Smith said. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; "I kept thinking he [Arthur Sr.] would drive up in the car," said Maja Harris, Art Jr.s mother and Art Sr.s wife. "Shoulda, coulda, woulda.". (Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. She never could explain it other than saying God had spoken to her. One day, she rounded a corner in her house. He met with former Marshall coach Red Dawson, who gave away his seat on the plane that night. "He wasn't a real big guy, but I don't know how many ballcarriers he hit and knocked them back in the direction they came from," Beamer said. " Carter said. 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. "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. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. 75 members, coaches, and fans were killed in November 1970 plane crash. That is certainly what was going to happen.". The movie details the tragic deaths of nearly the entire football program in 1970 and the rebuilding of a school and town all at once. "All of them were fighting and arguing over each other about whose fault it was. Home There were 64 children who became orphans after losing one or both parents on the flight. I don't think I believed it.. We each lost one or more family members, said Call, the ceremonys keynote speaker. He was a defensive end for Marshall in 1970, and was on the chartered plane when it crashed at Tri-State Airport on November 14, 1970. It's more than that, of course. Among those in the fountain audience were four football players from East Carolina who played in that 1970 game.
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