Tragedy struck when a plane carrying 75 members of the Marshall University Football program and supporters crashed near the Tri-State airport 55 years ago, forever altering the Thundering Herd and the Huntington community. 

Each year since, the university has honored the 75 with a Memorial Fountain Ceremony; this year’s ceremony will feature the daughter of a local businessman lost in the crash, Michele Craig, daughter of Michael Prestera, delegate-elect to the West Virginia Legislature. 

“I was working in Washington, D.C. at the time,” Craig said in a press release. “I was 25 years old. I was blessed, though, because I got the benefit of having my father longer. Traveling with him and learning from him – he always dragged us into meetings in Washington. I grew up being very comfortable in business situations.”

Craig served as a delegate for Cabell County in the West Virginia Legislature as well as spending 30 years as executive director of Region 2 Planning and Development Council for the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission. 

The ceremony will be held at noon Friday, Nov. 14, at the Memorial Student Center Plaza, shining a light and those lost. Additional slated speakers include Marshall President Brad D. Smith and Student Body President Connor Waller.

In addition to hearing from speakers, those in attendance will surround the Memorial Fountain and view the traditional laying of the wreath, as well as commemorative roses honoring each of the 75.

Members of the public are invited to attend the ceremony either in person or via a livestream of the event. Those interested in viewing the livestream can visit www.marshall.edu/neverforget. 

Kaitlyn Fleming can be contacted at fleming [email protected].