The Marshall football team is 6-0 heading into Saturday’s game with Middle Tennessee State. The Thundering Herd will be playing with tremendous emotion as the game is on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that saw 75 players, coaches and fans die.
Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Kenova and Ceredo, West Virginia. At 7:36 pm on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board in what has been recognized as “the worst sports-related air tragedy in U.S. history”.
The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, and two pilots, two flight attendants, and a charter coordinator.[3] The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina
Nov. 14, 1970: A plane carrying the Marshall football team, staffers and people close to the program crashed, leaving no survivors.
Tonight, on the 50-year anniversary, the Thundering Herd are playing to honor the 75 people who were killed.
(📍 @Goodyear) pic.twitter.com/N6WlKyZUwB
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 14, 2020
Tributes were paid:
Today we remember @HerdFB on the 50th anniversary of their tragic losses. pic.twitter.com/4tot6BNnkz
— App State Football (@AppState_FB) November 14, 2020
𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺.
𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻.
𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠.#WeAreMarshall x #RiseAsOne pic.twitter.com/ash7EQ86Q2— Marshall Football (@HerdFB) November 12, 2020
Marshall's game this weekend falls on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of 75 people within the football program.
The Herd released this video to honor those lost in the tragedy. (via @HerdFB) pic.twitter.com/vFTL3ugG2G
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 13, 2020
Thank you. 💚 https://t.co/CI6FPTMhHD pic.twitter.com/b5DRRzN077
— Marshall Football (@HerdFB) November 13, 2020
A special visit to Spring Hill Cemetery and the Marshall Memorial before tomorrow’s game.
For them. #WeAreMarshall x #RiseAsOne pic.twitter.com/lKbFcmOEsU
— Marshall Football (@HerdFB) November 14, 2020
Marshall will wear these uniforms tomorrow in honor of the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed 75 people within the football program.
(via @HerdFB) pic.twitter.com/XwIXpTRdhW
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 13, 2020
Fifty years ago, the devastating loss of 75 people, including members of the Marshall football team and Huntington community, shook us to our core. The unyielding spirit of this community is a true testament to those we lost on that dreadful night. They will never be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/XRkeSNN0OB
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 14, 2020
Nov. 14, 1970, 50 YEARS AGO TODAY: The Marshall football team perished in a plane crash. Two summers ago, I visited the secluded crash site. We should never forget them. #RIP pic.twitter.com/uPtSXvuetR
— David Johnson (@Rebels247) November 14, 2020
Four members of the 1970 ECU football team special guests at Marshall today
@ECUPiratesFB
@HerdFB pic.twitter.com/Tkb61aIWTj— Keith Morehouse (@KeithMorehouse) November 14, 2020