The 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd had chartered only one flight that entire season. The original proposal had been refused because it would exceed the DC-9's takeoff weight limitations at Stallings Field in Kinston, North Carolina. Negotiations trimmed the passenger and baggage count until the charter was approved. The aircraft -- a 95-seat Douglas DC-9-30, tail number N97S -- was crewed by Captain Frank Abbott, age 47, and First Officer Jerry Smith, age 28. The flight from Kinston proceeded without incident. At 7:23 p.m., the crew contacted air traffic controllers and received descent instructions. Thirteen minutes later, in rain and fog, the jet struck a ridge. Because this was the Herd's only charter of the year, some of Huntington's most prominent citizens were aboard -- a city councilman, a state legislator, and four physicians among them.

The crash devastated a city far beyond its university campus. It was the second college football team plane crash in barely six weeks -- on October 2, a Wichita State charter had killed 31 people, including 14 players and head coach Ben Wilson. The loss at Marshall cut deeper into civic life because the charter carried not just athletes but community leaders, parents, and friends. Receivers' coach Red Dawson survived only because he had driven back from the game instead of flying. He and freshman coach Gail Parker were buying boiled peanuts at a country store in rural Virginia when the news came over the radio. Coach Deke Brackett, who had switched places with Parker on the flight, was among the dead. In the days that followed, the enormity became clearer: 70 children had lost at least one parent, and 18 had been orphaned entirely.

On St. Patrick's Day, 1971, Jack Lengyel was introduced as Marshall's new head coach. He was the third choice -- Penn State assistant Bob Phillips declined, and Georgia Tech assistant Dick Bestwick accepted on February 28 before backing out days later. Lengyel came from the College of Wooster, hired by new athletic director Joe McMullen, under whom he had previously worked at the University of Akron. With Red Dawson's help, Lengyel assembled a team from junior varsity players, students from other sports, and walk-ons. The 1971 Thundering Herd won just two games -- against Xavier and Bowling Green -- but every victory felt like a resurrection. The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation led to three safety recommendations that would reshape aviation: heads-up displays for pilots, ground proximity warning systems, and enhanced surveillance of charter flight operations.

Marshall's acting president Donald Dedmon appointed a memorial committee within days of the crash. They commissioned a granite cenotaph at Spring Hill Cemetery, where many victims are buried in a shared grave site. On November 12, 1972, the Marshall University Memorial Fountain was dedicated at the entrance of the new Memorial Student Center, its waters designed to represent upward growth and immortality. Between the cemetery and Joan C. Edwards Stadium, 20th Street was renamed Marshall Memorial Boulevard. In November 2000, the "We Are Marshall" Memorial Bronze -- a 17-by-23-foot statue created by Burl Jones of Sissonville, West Virginia -- was unveiled on the stadium's west facade before thousands of fans, 90 minutes before a home game against Miami University. A memorial plaque was dedicated at the crash site itself in December 2006, with Red Dawson among the speakers. Each November 14, the fountain flows and the university pauses to remember.