40 years ago...

...it was November 14, 1970.  Mom and Dad were on a date, a year before they would marry, when their evening was cut short by the siren of the volunteer fire department.  Mom sat in the car while Dad helped the other rescue workers do what could be done to sort through the wreckage.  The DC9 carrying the Marshall football team, coaches, athletic staff, and local supporters back from Eastern Tennessee had crashed short of the runway. 

They said the crash was "unsurvivable". 

They were almost right. 

The entire community became survivors that night. 

A classmate and teammate of mine was just a peanut in her momma's belly (a cheerleader) in November 1970. 

She never got to meet her dad. 

Thinking of you Michelle...

I was on campus today and took the opportunity to visit the Memorial fountain.

It will be ceremonially turned off on Sunday, at the conclusion of another memorial service.  

The fountain is not just located in the geographic heart of the campus, it also represents the true heart of the University.  Every year when the waters are stopped, you feel it.  You feel the pain, the loss, the silence in your heart.

We are Marshall.