Marshall University Memorial Fountain Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Marshall To Limit Attendance For Crash Anniversary Events

On Nov. 14, 1970, the Marshall University football team’s plane crashed while returning from a game at East Carolina University, killing all 75 passengers and crew, including 36 members of the Thundering Herd football team.

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the worst disaster in U.S. sports history. Marshall University says the number of people able to attend commemorative events in Huntington will be limited. The school is restricting attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a news release, Marshall says the rededication of a restored statue honoring the 1970 team will proceed on Nov. 10 near the Marshall Rec Center in Huntington, but the public can only attend virtually.

On Nov. 13, Marshall will honor each student who died in the crash with a posthumous degree in their program of study at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse. The event will be by invitation only to family members, but will be streamed online for the public, according to the release.

The 50th annual Memorial Fountain Ceremony will be held at the Marshall Student Center Plaza on Nov. 14. Later that day, the football team will play Middle Tennessee State. A moment of silence will be held prior to kickoff.

To learn more about the events, visit Marshall University’s website — marshall.edu.

November 14, 1970: Marshall University Plane Crash

On the night of November 14, 1970, a Southern Airways DC-9 approached a foggy and rainy Tri-State Airport in Wayne County. The airliner slammed into a hillside just short of the runway and burst into flames. All 75 passengers were killed.

On board were nearly the entire Marshall University football team along with the head coach, athletic director, and 36 other fans, coaches, announcers, and crew members. It is still the deadliest sports-related air disaster in U.S. history.

The tragedy affected all of Huntington. Everyone seemingly knew someone on board the flight. A local doctor served as a pallbearer at six funerals, and others attended a funeral a day for a week.

The event remains an important part of Huntington’s collective memory. Every year on November 14, community members gather at the Marshall University student center to commemorate the crash. At the center, a memorial fountain with 75 jets of water honors the 75 who died.

In 2006, the movie We Are Marshall brought the tragedy back into the national spotlight. It recounted how the community rallied around the new football team after the crash.

November 14, 1970: Marshall University Plane Crash

The tragedy affected all of Huntington. Everyone seemingly knew someone on board the flight. A local doctor served as a pallbearer at six funerals, and others attended a funeral a day for a week.

In 2006, the movie We Are Marshall brought the tragedy back into the national spotlight. It recounted how the community rallied around the new football team after the crash.

Marshall Remembers Those Lost in Crash

Family and community members crowded around the Marshall University Memorial Fountain Monday at noon on the Huntington campus. The ceremony was to mark the 46^th anniversary of a plane crash that claimed the lives of football players, coaches and community members.

It’s a Marshall tradition each year on the day of the anniversary of the crash to hold a ceremony around the fountain to remember the lives lost.

This year’s speaker was Dennis Foley, a former Marshall linebacker who suffered a career-ending injury just weeks before the 1970 accident. at the time, the injury kept him from making the trip to East Carolina with the Thundering Herd, but he lost teammates including his roommate. Foley said for 30 years after the crash he would deny that he was at Marshall at the time of the accident. But in the early 2000’s he realized it was ok to talk about it.

“But I initiated conversations about who I was and what happened to me at Marshall, I no longer buried it, but let it come to the surface,” Foley said. “I became close to many new people and made many new friends and family from that time.”

At the ceremony each year on November 14, the fountain at the center of campus is turned off for the winter months. Students, faculty and others also place one rose on the fountain for each person on the flight.

Former Football Player to Speak at Annual Memorial Service

A former Marshall University football player whose teammates died in a plane crash will be the featured speaker at this year’s memorial service.

The school says Dennis Foley, who wasn’t on the flight due to an injury, will speak Monday at the Marshall Memorial Student Center plaza in Huntington.

The DC-9 jetliner crashed into a hillside not far from its destination in Kenova on Nov. 14, 1970, killing all 75 people aboard. The team plane was returning from a game at East Carolina.

Foley, who was sidelined due to a compounding injury, said speaking at the event would be a great honor and an opportunity to share the true story surrounding the crash.

Marshall University’s Student Government Association hosts the event each year to remember and honor those who died.

Marshall to Hold Annual Memorial Ceremony

Each year the Marshall University Community gathers around the Memorial Fountain on the Marshall campus to remember those lost in the 1970 plane crash that killed the Marshall football team, staff and supporters.

The son of one of the dozens who died when a plane carrying the Marshall football team and staff crashed will speak at the annual memorial service.

Stephen Ward was only 5 when the plane crashed on Nov. 14, 1970, killing 36-year-old Parker Ward and 74 others. The Student Government Association conducts a memorial service each year on the anniversary of the crash, which this year falls on a Saturday. Since Marshall has a home football game at 3:30 p.m., the service will start at 10 a.m. rather than the traditional time of noon.

The service will be held at the Memorial Student plaza.