November 14 1970
I was reading the paper this morning and it was talking about Marshall University playing a road game on November 14. The paper says that they haven't played a road game since 1970, when a DC-9 airplane crashed killing 75 , including team coaches and broadcasters. All of a sudden I was transformed back to a 12 year old kid, who wanted to be in radio...
November 14 1970, was an ordinary day at our house. On Saturdays we cleaned house, got ready for Sunday School and church the next day. On Saturday evenings from 5PM-7PM, I listened to American Top 40 with Casey Kassem. I would have my Channel Master transistor radio and my cassette tape recorder side by side hoping to record the latest music on cassette. Later I would practice introducing it and doing interviews with my friends and neighbors. I was listening and recording Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Help Us All" when it was interrupted by a sounder that said "Bulletin, Bulletin", the story then came on about the DC-9 plane crashing. It didn't say that the people were killed, it just said the plane crashed. At that time they didn't know what happened. Later on that evening we found out that 75 people were killed. the football team, coaches and a sportscaster formerly from Beckley.
I was in bed sleeping with the radio on , when my dad came home from work and he and my mom were watching the news on TV. I heard then talk about Gene Moorehouse who used to work at WJLS. I used to hear a lot of stories about WJLS over the years which fascinated me. Over the next few days there was a found raiser to help the Moorehouse family. They have four or five kids...
A few years ago, the film came out "We Are Marshall". It was a good movie that told the story of that time and the rebuilding of the Marshall football program. I did a paper on it for Sociology, because it was local. Its strange in some ways things you remember about that time. I was in the eighth grade in school. It was shaping up to be a good year for me. My dad and one of his friends
Mr. Henery Dickerson had ties to Marshall. Mr. Henry's son was one of the basketball coaches there at one time. They were very interested in the movie. Then there was the person, who was supposed to go to that game with Gene Moorehouse, who got sick and couldn't go. For all of these years he had survivors guilt. Some people would take it as a sign that maybe you were left here for a reason, to carry on the work that Gene passed on to you.. I am not sure. Years later, I trained a young guy by the name of Derrick Blevins, whose uncle was Dennis Blevins one of the football players killed in that plane crash. He said that they all got tickets and different honors from the school.
Gene Moorehouse had a son, who did sports on WSAZ TV. I don't know if he still does, but my dad was remarking how much he looked like his dad. We live in a fast paced world now and often these things are forgotten, it is good to pause over a few minutes and remember things like that, and the ability to rebound from some awful circumstances. Even though some things that happen in life are really horrific, God provides a chance to rebound or come back. Thus the statement "We Are Marshall"!!!!
.
November 14 1970, was an ordinary day at our house. On Saturdays we cleaned house, got ready for Sunday School and church the next day. On Saturday evenings from 5PM-7PM, I listened to American Top 40 with Casey Kassem. I would have my Channel Master transistor radio and my cassette tape recorder side by side hoping to record the latest music on cassette. Later I would practice introducing it and doing interviews with my friends and neighbors. I was listening and recording Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Help Us All" when it was interrupted by a sounder that said "Bulletin, Bulletin", the story then came on about the DC-9 plane crashing. It didn't say that the people were killed, it just said the plane crashed. At that time they didn't know what happened. Later on that evening we found out that 75 people were killed. the football team, coaches and a sportscaster formerly from Beckley.
I was in bed sleeping with the radio on , when my dad came home from work and he and my mom were watching the news on TV. I heard then talk about Gene Moorehouse who used to work at WJLS. I used to hear a lot of stories about WJLS over the years which fascinated me. Over the next few days there was a found raiser to help the Moorehouse family. They have four or five kids...
A few years ago, the film came out "We Are Marshall". It was a good movie that told the story of that time and the rebuilding of the Marshall football program. I did a paper on it for Sociology, because it was local. Its strange in some ways things you remember about that time. I was in the eighth grade in school. It was shaping up to be a good year for me. My dad and one of his friends
Mr. Henery Dickerson had ties to Marshall. Mr. Henry's son was one of the basketball coaches there at one time. They were very interested in the movie. Then there was the person, who was supposed to go to that game with Gene Moorehouse, who got sick and couldn't go. For all of these years he had survivors guilt. Some people would take it as a sign that maybe you were left here for a reason, to carry on the work that Gene passed on to you.. I am not sure. Years later, I trained a young guy by the name of Derrick Blevins, whose uncle was Dennis Blevins one of the football players killed in that plane crash. He said that they all got tickets and different honors from the school.
Gene Moorehouse had a son, who did sports on WSAZ TV. I don't know if he still does, but my dad was remarking how much he looked like his dad. We live in a fast paced world now and often these things are forgotten, it is good to pause over a few minutes and remember things like that, and the ability to rebound from some awful circumstances. Even though some things that happen in life are really horrific, God provides a chance to rebound or come back. Thus the statement "We Are Marshall"!!!!
.
Comments
Post a Comment