Harry Bertoia designed the 6,500-pound, 13-foot-high Memorial Fountain. It was dedicated Nov. 12, 1972.
The Memorial Bronze, a 17-by-23-foot statue, was a gift to the university from Marshall fans, and the idea of John and Ann Krieger of Huntington. It was dedicated Nov. 11, 2000

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Remembrances

39th anniversary of crash to be observed Saturday, Nov. 14

HUNTINGTON — The Marshall University Memorial Fountain will be turned off for the winter during a ceremony at noon Saturday, Nov. 14, to mark the 39th anniversary of the 1970 plane crash that killed most of Marshall’s football team.

Chuck Landon: First flight jitters, 38 years later

Published Nov. 14, 2008 I was on the next plane. The first time Marshall University athletics flew after the horrific plane crash in 1970, I was a passenger. It was on Jan. 9, 1971. Marshall's basketball team was flying to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a game against Western Michigan. There were about 30 of us on the flight.

EDITORIAL: Message of hope from MU crash story still inspiring today

Published Nov. 14, 2008 Today, we remember. Each Nov. 14, the bustle of Marshall University stops for a couple of hours, as campus and community pause to reflect on the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 75 players, coaches, staff and supporters traveling with the school football team.

David Walsh: Meeting family brings back memories of kicker

Published Dec. 4, 2008 Editor's note: Sports reporter David Walsh of The Herald-Dispatch was a freshman member of the 1970 Marshall University football team. Marcelo Lajterman, a Marshall kicker who died in the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash was one of his teammates.

University's resiliency, tenacity integral to 38th memorial service

Published Nov. 15, 2008 HUNTINGTON -- The plane crash that killed 75 football players, coaches, staff, supporters and flight crew 38 years ago will always be a part of Marshall University's history.

In his father's footsteps: decades after crash, Morehouse finishing job

Published Nov. 14, 1997 Nine-year-old Keith Morehouse didn't know his future was charted when his father died in the Marshall University plane crash 27 years ago today. All he knew was his dad, Gene Morehouse, was a neat guy who brightened the house when he came home at night. And he had the coolest job around as play-by-play radio broadcaster for Marshall football and basketball games. He was the voice of Marshall sports.

Managers reunite 27 years after crash

Published Nov. 14, 1997 The caller's voice, Eugene Jones says, was not familiar. But his story was. It was a story of a conversation, 25 years before in 1970, between Jones and the caller, Jerry Sieber.

After 29 years, brother of crash victim compelled to visit Marshall

Published Nov. 18, 1999 Something, as Reggie Oliver put it, told Jerome Hood now was his appointed time. Yes, tears would flow and pain would be felt. Those emotions always surface on a particular November day when Marshall University stops to remember the 75 people who lost their lives in what still ranks as the worst air tragedy in American sports history.

Daughter remembers her parents

Editor's note: Cindy Arnold Pierce's parents, Charles Arnold and Rachel Baker, were among the 75 people killed in the Marshall plane crash Nov. 14, 1970. Her parents relocated their family to Huntington one year earlier in order for her father to run the office of Mutual of Omaha. He was the general agent. Her mother was a nurse. This originally ran Nov. 14, 2003.

Daughter's search turns up father she never knew

Published Nov. 14, 2003 HUNTINGTON -- Listening to stories and looking at pictures. That's all Patty Smith can do to learn about the father she never knew. Jim "Jimo" Adams started at offensive guard for the Marshall football team. On the afternoon of Nov. 14, 1970 the Thundering Herd lost to East Carolina, 17-14, in Greenville, N.C. That rainy night, the plane bringing the team, fans and staff home crashed into a hillside short of the runway at Tri-State Airport. All 75 aboard perished.

Former MU athletic director honored

Published Nov. 14, 2003 IRONTON -- Charlie Kautz will be remembered here today. No elaborate ceremonies will take place to memorialize the former Ironton High School and Rock Hill High football coach. The memory of Kautz, one of 75 victims of the Marshall plane crash, simply will sweep through the minds of some of those who knew him.

With each passing memorial service, families never forget

Michael Prestera Amy Prestera wasn't yet born when her grandfather, Michael Prestera, was killed in the crash. "I've heard he was wonderful, and I've heard about his efforts and his energy," she told The Herald-Dispatch in November 1997. Prestera was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates when he died.

Marshall Memorial Bronze unveiled to mix of emotions

Published Nov. 12, 2000 HUNTINGTON -- For a while they were so quiet, totally unlike Marshall University football fans. They listened politely to the speeches, and then watched with anticipation as the green cover came off the "We Are Marshall Memorial Bronze."

'Ashes to Glory' debut evokes tears, laughter

Published Nov. 13, 2000 HUNTINGTON -- They laughed. They cried. They did a little, "We are ... Marshall." They even sat through the credits. And as the approximately 1,500 well-dressed spectators filed out of the Keith-Albee Theatre Sunday, they were spilling with kind remarks about the documentary "Ashes to Glory," which premiered at 7 p.m. at the theater and on WPBY.

Former Marshall manager remembers phone call that changed life forever

Published Nov. 14, 2004 HUNTINGTON -- Eugene Jones remembers the phone call that changed his life. It was 1970 and the 18-year-old Jones was fresh out of Talcott High School in Summers County, W.Va., and just beginning his freshman year at Marshall University as a student equipment manager for the football team under a work-study program.

Miami (Ohio) victory still special for former coach

Published Nov. 13, 2005 What better way to combine work and pleasure than to schedule a work trip home? Bobby Pruett did just that in the spring of 1970, heading to his alma mater to trade Xs and Os with Marshall University football coaches. Pruett, a young head coach making his way through the Virginia High School ranks, quickly developed a rapport with Rick Tolley's coaching staff.

Crash has had lasting impact on Snyder

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- Like so many Tri-State natives, Mark Snyder has processed the 1970 Marshall football plane crash from many perspectives. He was a young boy at the time of America's most tragic sports catastrophe. Snyder's father and grandfather followed Marshall football with a passion, and the impact of 75 lost lives reverberated throughout the family.

Huntington businessman opted out of fatal flight

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- In 1970, Huntington businessman George Lambros was a regular at Cincinnati Bengals, University of Kentucky and Marshall University football games. The owner of Lambros & Sons clothing store in downtown Huntington had a chance to travel to Greenville, N.C., on Nov. 14 to watch the Marshall Thundering Herd game against at East Carolina, but passed on the gesture by Dr. Ray Hagley and stayed home.

A long, sad trip home

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- Mary Lou Light has been behind the wheel for some difficult car trips. One of the most difficult for her occurred Nov. 14, 1970, while returning home from Morgantown where that afternoon she had watched West Virginia defeat Syracuse, 28-19. Paul Zirkle, her son, had gone to a football camp at WVU. Light received four tickets to that Syracuse game courtesy of Mountaineers coach Bobby Bowden.

Recruit's reaction 'disbelief'

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- When Allen Meadows was a Scott High School senior in Madison, W.Va., he performed well enough on the football field to draw a look from college coaches. One school hoping to land the then 195-pounder lineman was West Virginia and coach Bobby Bowden.

School assignment kept student assistant at home

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- The need to complete a school assignment for graduation meant Joe Wortham couldn't perform a work assignment on Nov. 14, 1970. At that time, Wortham was a Marshall senior and a student assistant in the sports information office. Gene Morehouse, the sports information director, also did Thundering Herd radio broadcasts, so a student assistant would make football road trips to handle duties in the press box. The 1970 schedule listed Marshall at East Carolina that day and that meant boarding a plane instead of a bus.

Football team attends memorial service to honor crash victims

Published Nov. 15, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's football program turned out in muted force Monday afternoon, linking the present to an unforgettable past. Marshall honored the 75 people lost in the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash under gray skies on the 35th anniversary of America's worst sports catastrophe. Previous ceremonies always included a strong Thundering Herd football presence, but this year's celebration of life included all involved -- players, coaches, trainers and support staff.

Deputy sheriff watched in disbelief as events unfolded on television

Published Nov. 13, 2005 HUNTINGTON -- For Doug Myers, the first bit of news about Marshall football on Nov. 14, 1970 wasn't good. East Carolina defeated the Thundering Herd, 17-14, that afternoon in Greenville, N.C.

Community members remember 1970

Former assistant Marshall coach Carl Kokor Carl Kokor was an assistant coach for the Herd in 1970. He missed the flight from East Carolina to Huntington because he was scouting Ohio University in its game at Penn State. Marshall was scheduled to play Ohio the following week.

Memorial Fountain designed to represent 'upward growth, immortality, eternality'

HUNTINGTON -- The graceful Memorial Fountain that stands in front of the campus entrance to Marshall University's Memorial Student Center was designed to reaffirm "purposeful life" as much as mourn "tragic loss" after the deaths of the 75 football players, coaches and fans who died in the tragic crash of Nov. 14, 1970.

Sculpture draws Herd family together

Published Nov. 14, 2007 HUNTINGTON - It's a scene that plays out on a near-daily basis. Tri-State residents and out-of-towners pull into Joan C. Edwards Stadium's West Lot. Many are football fans; a healthy amount couldn't point out the end zone from the 1-yard line. Generations span the gamut.

ANTHONY HANSHEW: Sculpture draws Herd family together

Published Nov. 14, 2007 HUNTINGTON - It's a scene that plays out on a near-daily basis. Tri-State residents and out-of-towners pull into Joan C. Edwards Stadium's West Lot. Many are football fans; a healthy amount couldn't point out the end zone from the 1-yard line. Generations span the gamut.

Marshall's Memorial Fountain rededicated

Published April 10, 2008 HUNTINGTON -- Each fall, there is a solemn ceremony when the Memorial Fountain at Marshall University is silenced. But rarely is the occasion marked the following spring when the fountain is turned back on.