HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Keith Morehouse remembers his late father Gene Morehouse every day while working as the sports director at WSAZ-TV in the Charleston, Huntington area.
Keith’s father also made a career in sports broadcasting, as the ‘Voice of the Marshall Thundering Herd’ in 1970. 50 years ago this week, on Nov. 14, 1970, Gene was among the 75 people killed on Southern Airways Flight 932 when the plane crashed near the Tri-State Airport on the way back from a game at East Carolina.
“He was my hero,” Keith said on Wednesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’ “After he was wrapping broadcasts at the old fieldhouse, we would play with plastic cups and shoot them in the hoops. He was a transplanted New Jersian and we had lived in Beckley for years and years.”
Keith, who was 9-year old when Gene died, said his family moved to Huntington in the summer of 1968. His dad took the Sports Information Director job as well as the broadcasting position to support the large family consisting of Keith and his five siblings.
Gene was a native of Newark, New Jersey but moved in Beckley in 1949. Keith said even though his dad was at Marshall for two years before he died, he loved the school and West Virginia.
VIEW: Marshall plane crash archive
Keith and the team at WSAZ-TV have been working for months on a 50th anniversary special on the crash, “A Change of Seasons: Fifty Novembers Ago,” that will air Thursday night from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
He said with help from East Carolina officials and other media members, there is never before seen game footage with the call from his dad
“We are clipping it together and syncing it up for two highlight segments that most people have never seen. It’s pretty eerie to listen to it. It’s gripping, I can tell you that,” Morehouse said.
“That’s how we are going to finish out the show.”
Keith added they traveled to Greenville, North Carolina to interview former East Carolina players that played in the 1970 game.
He noted players still alive are emotional to this day about what happened to Marshall.
“Just to hear them become emotional. It has affected their whole lives. They said ‘ you line up against those guys, pound each other for 60 minutes, shake hands at the end of the game and go home and celebrate your win.’ And then all of a sudden you heard this happened,” Morehouse said.
We’ve been working on a very special project–a look back at the Marshall tragedy of November 14th, 1970 and the ultimate comeback story…
A Change of Seasons
Fifty years later
Thursday, November 12th 7:00 p.m.
WSAZ….here’s a preview@HerdFB @WSAZnews pic.twitter.com/PwO8kAJ0Ma
— Keith Morehouse (@KeithMorehouse) November 2, 2020
There are many other stories from a Marshall perspective that are featured in the special, Keith said. That includes the relationship between Ray Hagley, the team physician, and current Marshall men’s basketball coach Dan D’Antoni.
“Both of my wife’s parents were killed in the crash. Her dad was the team doctor, Ray Hagley,” Keith said.
“I got talk to (Dan) D’Antoni because I am not sure people know this but they were the best of friends. Dr. Hagley was basically a mentor to Dan D’Antoni. Danny got emotional when speaking about this.”
Other included in the feature are current Marshall coach Doc Holliday, Jack Lengyel the coach of the Young Thundering Herd in the years following and former Marshall football great Chad Pennington.
Many associated with the football program will be in attendance Saturday in Huntington for the scheduled football games between the Herd and Middle Tennessee. The game kicks off at noon.