— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — From apprehensive to inspired. That covers the range of emotions I experienced over the last couple weeks as the calendar reminded everyone in the Marshall University family the darkest day in aviation sports history was upon us for the 48th time.
My trip down memory lane started two Thursdays ago with the Marshall Quarterback Club/Huntington luncheon in the Big Green Room inside Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Thundering Herd fans/QB Club members gathered to hear former Thundering Herd/Young Thundering Herd players and one assistant coach reflect on life from Nov. 14, 1970 to the present.
That particular day, the Southern Airways Flight 932 was bringing players, coaches, athletic department staff, university staff and fans back from the 17-14 loss to East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.
We all know the tragic ending. The chartered jet crashed into a hillside short of the runway at Tri-State Airport in Kenova on that rainy, foggy night. There were 75 people on board. No survivors.
The game closest to the anniversary was held Nov. 10 and the players wore special black tops and pants and special helmets with ’75’ on one side — the number of people who died in the tragedy — and the logo of the 1971 Young Thundering Herd on the other side.
The names of all 75 people who perished in the disaster appeared on a green stripe down the middle of the helmet.
Coaches and staff had sweartshirts with ’75’ on them and the names of those who perished on the ’75’ logo.
Marshall defeated Charlotte, 30-13, to help make the Blackout promotion a success again.
Wednesday focused on the Fountain Ceremony at the Memorial Student Center where those in attendance got to hear from a keynote speaker who lost her father in the crash. She was 6 months old at the time.
Red Dawson, former Herd and Young Thundering Herd assistant coach, along with former players Mark Miller, Rick Meckstroth, Alan Meadows, John Shimp and myself were the club’s guests at the luncheon. So was Keith Morehouse, WSAZ sports director whose father Gene, school SID and Voice of the Herd at the time, died in the crash.
As the moderator, Morehouse asked some questions and the guests gave moving answers, some leading to tears. We all received the memorial hat with the No. 75 and Young Herd logos.
In a new and appreciated twist, all former Herd players were invited back for this game and got to go down on the field prior to kickoff.
I got to visit with Brad Lambert, Charlotte coach and former Herd assistant, and Chris Scelfo, another former Herd assistant who now is on Lambert’s staff. The former players got to march out arm in arm with the Herd team and coaches as a stirring video tribute to the 75 played on the big screens on the scoreboards at each end of the stadium.
Those who attended the luncheon on Thursday got a preview of what the crowd of nearly 20,000 saw. On the walk, I was front row (not by design) and locked arms with offensive guard Jordan Dowrey and quarterback Isaiah Green. I told Jordan to protect Isaiah and to open some holes. I then told to Isaiah to take care of business through the air. They came through on all counts.
The finale would be the annual Fountain Ceremony on Wednesday. The guest speaker was Leslie Deese Garvis. Her dad, Danny, was charter coordinator for the Herd’s trip and died in the crash. Garvis was 6 months old at that time.
Wouldn’t you know she once worked in aviation at Orlando International Airport. She and husband Rick now call Fort Worth, Texas home.
Garvis said she worried about how she’d be received. No need for that she quickly learned.
“Everyone welcomed me. I found a family,” Garvis said prior to a special dinner at the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe.
Garvis has a Facebook group called “Southern Airways Flight 932 Memorial 75.” Check it out.
In her speech, she planned to talk about a certain five out of the 75 who perished. Those five are the flight crew, one being her father, and how those families have coped since the tragedy. Garvis talked about how photos and conversations were all she had to learn about a man she knew was “caring.”
By time the 50th anniversary arrives, Garvis hopes to have a book out about the crash victims.
“I want to show people the way they were,” she said.
My being apprehensive two weeks ago is understandable. My being inspired also is understandable. The above cleary spells out why for me and those connected to this tragedy in any way.