Time heals all wounds
Column
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2012
Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2012 00:11
I want to start today’s column with a little bit of frankness about myself. I’d like to think of myself as logical guy who is never really moved by emotion or whimsy. I am in no way cold, callus or cruel nor am I the type to willingly spark controversy. Finally, I want to make an important point to note that the vast majority of this column is directed at the student body and is no way, shape or form directed at Marshall University’s alumni or the Huntington community.
Now these disclaimers are out of the way, I want to delve into what happened yesterday, namely, the 42nd annual commemoration of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash.
I could not imagine the pain and agony the friends and families went through following the crash. To lose a loved one unexpectedly is always a shock; it leaves one numb and lost. I watched yesterday’s ceremony solemnly, reflecting on how such a tragedy must have felt to the community.
However, I wondered how long must a community be reminded of a tragedy. Forty-two years have passed since these young athletes died; why must we continue to be reminded? Or to put it more precisely, why must this display of pageantry continue?
I’m willing to hedge my bets the vast majority of those at yesterday’s ceremony not only had nothing to do with this tragedy, but were probably born about two decades after the fact. In their heart of hearts, I doubt if they truly felt the loss of those who were alive and well when the plane went down.
The old cliché goes, “Time heals all wounds.” Well, I say 42 years is healing enough.
Our nation has learned to deal with tragedy. Every year, the news mentions the dates of our national tragedies, from Pearl Harbor to Oklahoma City, from JFK to 9/11. However, as the years pass, there’s less pageantry involved, for the simple fact that less and less people are around who remember when it happened. We’re reminded, but not too much. Even 9/11 wasn’t observed much this year; the NY Times didn’t even put it on the front page.
But the ceremony is a long-standing tradition at Marshall. Mountaineers burn couches, Yale has the Skull and Crossbones and Marshall has this crash. It’s the sort of thing that we carry on, like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Like many traditions, this ceremony, I argue, has become devoid of meaning. The students who attended weren’t here when this happened; they had nothing to do with it. It’s a duty, something we always do and that’s that. However, as the years pass, it loses its power. I can see how in the decade that followed the crash, the campus community bound themselves together in solidarity but at this point, it’s just a motion we go through every year.
However, there is much to be learned from this ceremony and the story it tells. Despite the loss, Marshall was able to pull together and build a pretty successful football program in the years following the crash. The Thundering Herd was resilient, came together and carried on for years to come.
The point I’m trying to get to is this; why must the Herd constantly be cast in this shadow of reaction? Our campus rhetoric indicates that we are constantly battling this tragedy. Instead, let’s just call a spade a spade and acknowledge our student body has nothing to be reacting to here, just for the simple fact that we were not around. Let’s instead look toward the future of this university, not in with the lenses of grief, but with the optimism of an institution who is looking for bountiful success. We are Marshall because we want to be Marshall. The phoenix rises from the ashes new and after flying through blue skies, stops looking at the fire he came from.
Henry Culvyhouse can be contacted at culvyhouse@marshall.edu.
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To the editor: You need to immediately remove this article and immediately consider removing Culvyhouse from your staff. Once this article is removed, I expect there to be an apology to the families who still grieve to this day, and an apology for all of us who had to suffer through reading such an utter atrocity. I have never joined a website just to post a comment out of such outrage and sadness that someone like this is allowed to write articles that are implemented into an official university paper. Given the information from the article, I am assuming the writer is a student. I gather this assumption for several reasons. The writing, in its most basic form, is flawed of basic logic concerning how our country remembers such tragedies. Putting the Marshall plane crash aside, your comments about 9/11 are offensive and completely unpatriotic. It doesn't matter what the NY Times thinks; it's what YOU think about the tragedies. Apparently, you need to reexamine your callused skin, make sure your blood is still warm, and check to see if your pulse is still there. "The students who attended weren't here when this happened; they had nothing to do with it." This alone renders this article void of any legitimacy and/or logic. So here's what I propose to you, Henry. Since you weren't around during Independence Day, please don't celebrate July 4th. If you are a Christian, please stop celebrating Christmas, Easter, and stop receiving communion. If Jewish, please stop celebrating Hanukkah. On your father or mother's birthday, please stop celebrating. You were not alive during these happenings, so you should not celebrate these days. On Memorial and Veteran's Day, please don't remember those who fought and shed blood for your freedom, which should be cut short of your allowance to write articles. Furthermore, apparently you forgot about the many children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends of those who lost loved ones on that day. Are you saying that there were no people in attendance at the memorial that have a connection to the plane crash? I feel for those hundreds that attended the memorial that choose to read this garbage. I, personally, have no immediate connection to the plane crash. I was raised a WVU fan and observed the bitter rivalry between the two schools, but even through such bitterness, I, along with many other WVU fans I'm sure, sympathize and keep those affected by plane crash in our thoughts and prayers. especially on the day of annual memorial. Nevertheless, I guess I should stop advise my family to stop putting flowers on my grandfather's grave. According to Culvyhouse, we don't need to do this anymore. We shouldn't care about him anymore. We should simply just forget about him, because, after all, he is just getting in our way. He's six feet under in the cold dirt. He doesn't deserve any type of memorial anymore.Your lack of patriotism and empathy sickens me, and I feel for all of the families who stumble across this article before it gets taken down for being one of the most ridiculous pieces of writing that has ever been printed on, what is supposed to be, a reputable newspaper.
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