OCF, like you, I remember that weekend vividly. What a tragic event. The sad thing is when you look back at it now so many people have no clue what happened OR that it even happened. I guess you have to live thru those kinds of things to really appreciate the moment. Good to hear that the Marshall folks will always remember the players, coaches and supporters who died on that day.

When I was a student at Ohio, I wrote a paper about this event (and a little bit about the turnaround with Moss and MAC Championships).

The ties to Ohio certainly struck me... along with the great sense of community that Marshall has established.

Not widely publicized was the fact that the University of Akron's AD, Gordon Lsrson, and president, Dominic Gazetta, tried to use the tragedy as an opportunity to prove that their football team belonged in the MAC. They suggested that they play Ohio in Athens the following Saturday, since they had an open date. Bill Hess rejected it outright, saying it was inappropriate.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but wasn't there a picture of Ohio on the field with the ball on the tee at the Memorial Service? A few years ago I tried searching for the photo. I ended up finding a section in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch (I think) that has a lot of info about the crash. Part of it was the NTSB report. I ended up reading that. Very sad.

I was a senior in high school the year of the crash.
I had just been accepted at O.U.
One of my wrestling teammates had been accepted at Marshall on a football scholarship.

We joked about being rivals after high school.

Then came the crash.
I remember it well because of my teammate, but there also several Marshall players from this area, including their Q.B.

My friend went on to be a member of the Young Thundering Herd.

Last year my wife and I scheduled our trip to Athens a day early so we could see the Marshall ceremony for the first time.
Very moving,and the key note speaker was the Q.B.'s brother who I knew as a coach for a local high school.

After the Ceremony my wife and I went to the cemetery to say a prayer at the players' memorial.

We can all support you in this really emotional time.

I've told this story before, my best man was the ticket manager at Marshall and was supposed to go to that game. Fortunately for him, his wife had scheduled some friends over for dinner and my friend had to cancel his trip plans. My doctor was the team doctor and he perished on that flight. It was totally a kick in the face for all the Huntington and Marshall people and has created a special bond for their fans that will probably never end. A really sad day for all concerned.

I think I have posted my history and the connection between my Bobcat years and my Marshall years. Hard to believe it has been 45 years. I get to see the Herd play here in FL but I just don't seem to time any trip for the Bobcats. Last Ohio game I saw in person was at UVA quite a few years ago.

I have so many memories from those years, many when Ohio and Marshall played. I think one of the smallest crowds I ever saw was in 1972 when Marshall played in Athens on the day after Thanksgiving. Very cold. It was one of Marshall's two wins that year. The last time I saw Ohio play in Athens.

No matter how hard you pull for one team or another, you realize that football is a game, and that the memories can last a lot longer than the final score.

I am always reminded of the stories about how Bo and Woody competed so hard against each other, but when they both were retired, they were close.

So about this time every year, I recall where I was that November night, and then think about our 10th win in 1968, the BG and Cincy games, and then back to the Herd-Xavier game, and on and on. I thank collegiate athletics for those unbreakable, never to be lost memories.

I haven't forgot.

http://tinyurl.com/nmwv454

About 31 people died in that crash. There were a few survivors. It was one of two planes carrying the WSU football team. The Marshall crash killed 75. There were no survivors. In the case of Marshall the whole team was killed except for those on the injured list or those who didn't make the traveling squad. All the coaches perished, except for those scouting OHIO at Penn State. Both tragedies were horrible events, and I'm sure had lasting effects on their respective communities. Marshall rebuilt its football program. WSU, eventually, disbanded theirs. I don't know enough about WSU to know how much the crash was a factor what happened to their program. I remember that in the spring of 1971 there was a nationally televised show that raised funds for the families of the victims of both crashes.

I clearly marked it "off topic." So, if you don't want to read it, it's easy to just skip it.