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REMEMBERING
MARSHALL
In commemoration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Marshall University plane crash disaster, we are honored to feature Marshall University in this issue of our Medco Catalog.
Special thanks to Marshall University Athletic Training Staff for all their cooperation in photographing the front cover.
On November 14, 1970, on a rainy hillside in West Virginia, the lives of 75 people were lost in the worst single air tragedy in NCAA sports history. A chartered jet carrying the Marshall Uni- versity football team as well as coaches, staff, community mem- bers and flight crew was returning from a game at East Carolina when it crashed into a hillside two miles from the Tri-State Airport in Kenova, West Virginia. All onboard were killed.
Today, just outside of the Memorial Student Center at the heart of Marshall’s Huntington campus stands the Memorial Fountain. More than 13 feet high and weighing 6500 pounds, it serves as a visible reminder of the lives lost in the crash. It was sculptor Har- ry Bertoia’s hope the fountain would “commemorate the living, rather than death, on the waters of life, rising, receding, surging so as to express upward growth, immortality and eternality.”
Athletic Trainers served a critical role immediately following the tragedy. NATA Hall of Fame inductees, Mark Smaha & Dr. Robert “Bobby” Barton, assisted in identifying their former stu- dent athletes and colleagues leveraging knowledge of previous surgeries, related scars and dental records.They also attended funerals, some as pall bearers. Not only did their involvement aid in the recovery of the Marshall community, it helped shape each of their legendary careers.Today, each of these distinguished gentlemen are still active in the athletic training profession.
Each year on the anniversary of the tragedy, the Me- morial Fountain has served as the site for a memorial service. Thousands attend to honor the victims of the crash, to tell the story, and embrace what the school has done since. At last year’s memorial, Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert spoke its importance, saying, “The ritual reminds us, strengthens us, and binds us together in love”.
The ceremony includes a traditional laying of a wreath and cur- rent Marshall football players, community members and descen- dants of victims placing roses at the fountain for each victim. The fountain is then turned off and remains silent until spring. Throughout the year, for students, alumni and visitors, the foun- tain is a landmark, a statement of resiliency, constancy of spirit and a flowing future.
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