Each year on Nov. 14, many gather at Marshall University’s memorial fountain to pay honor to those who were tragically lost in the Southern Airways Flight 932 that carried Marshall University football players, coaches, community leaders, and fans.

Although we are one more year removed from the tragedy, I feel closer as each year passes.

As a lifelong Marshall fan, I was taught at a very early age about the Marshall plane crash and what it meant to not only the football program and the university, but to the community of Huntington and the families who lost loved ones that night in 1970.

My grandparents and great-grandparents both lived within walking distance of the campus, and I have spent many Saturdays at Joan C. Edwards Stadium — the current home of the Marshall football team — and cheered on the Thundering Herd.

I spent many Saturdays, however, as a young lad at Fairfield Stadium watching Marshall play and never really understood the magnitude of what had happened to the program. At that time, I was maybe 6 or 7 years old in the late 80’s.

I wasn’t born until 11 years after the crash, but I have tried to always learn things I didn’t know as I have grown up.

Many people who live in the Tri-State know about the plane crash, and for some it is something that impacted their lives directly through a family member or a friend.

People around the country learned more about it when “We Are…Marshall” was made by Warner Bros.

This tragedy is something that will live on forever, and it is important to continue to educate people on just how important this time was for the university, but the city and Tri-State as well.

As a Marshall fan, I can tell you that when people say they never forget, that is true and will always be the case.

Regardless whether it is former, current, or future players wearing the Marshall football uniform, they fully understand that they are truly playing for something greater than themselves.

I leave you this week from a few lines that speak volumes about the importance of what Marshall University means that opens the movie “We Are…Marshall.”

“In the middle of Huntington, West Virginia there’s a river. Next to that river is a steel mill. And next to the steel mill there is a school. In the middle of the school, there is a fountain. Each year on the exact same day, at the exact same hour, the water to this fountain is turned off. And in this moment once every year, through out the town, through the school, time stands still.”

I can say that I am proud to be a Marshall fan, regardless if they win or lose because the football program has already beat the odds.

 

Josh Morrison is the general manager at The Tribune. To reach him, call 740-532-1441 ext. 16 or by email at josh.morrison@irontontribune.com.