Marshall offensive lineman Logan Osburn pays his respects to the 75 lives lost in the Southern Airways Flight 932 crash on Nov. 14, 1970, during a team visit to the memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery Friday evening in Huntington.
Marshall offensive lineman Logan Osburn pays his respects to the 75 lives lost in the Southern Airways Flight 932 crash on Nov. 14, 1970, during a team visit to the memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery Friday evening in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Fittingly, a light rain washed over Spring Hill Cemetery as members of the Marshall football program visited the memorial dedicated to the 75 lives lost in the Southern Airways Flight 932 crash on Nov. 14, 1970.
In front of that monument, at the highest point of the 110-acre plot of land, are six unmarked graves of unidentifiable players and one marked gravestone for the 1970 Thundering HerdÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coach, Rick Tolley, all of whom died on the hillside in Wayne County that night 54 years ago.
Longtime Marshall staff member Mark Gale, in an address to the team that stood in a large circle around him at the memorial, said each of those 75 deserved to be memorialized, but more importantly, celebrated.
So he challenged each coach, one by one, reading their names before the name of the man who held their same position on that 1970 team, to celebrate those who had gone before them by the way they coach against Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Gale continued with players, singling out Logan Osburn, Braylon Braxton, AJ Turner, JJ Roberts and Jaden Yates, among others, challenging them to honor and celebrate the very names theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll wear on the varsity stripe of their helmet by the way they play.
Marshall coach Charles Huff gave a brief address that he finished with two words: ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFor them,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ before leading the Herd in a single-file line back to the buses. As they left, each player touched the helmet and the memorial to pay their respects before traveling to the team hotel.
Gale pointed out that after the leaves fall in autumn, Joan C. Edwards Stadium is visible from the memorial site and said he likes to think those 75 individuals were given the best seat in the house every time Marshall takes the field.
Luke Creasy is a sports reporter for HD ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. He can be reached by phone at 304-526-2800.
