FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 02, 2012
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
Mo Lajterman, brother of crash victim, to speak at memorial service
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Mo Lajterman lives in New Jersey and visits Marshall University maybe once every couple of years. Yet, he and all of the Lajtermans, including Mo’s brothers, Tito and Abe, have a long-distance relationship with Marshall that Mo describes with one word – family.
Mo Lajterman and
his brothers will return to Marshall on Wednesday, Nov. 14, for the annual
memorial service celebrating the lives of the 75 victims of the 1970 Marshall
plane crash, including the Lajtermans’ brother, Marcelo.
The service
starts at noon on the Memorial Student Center plaza on the Huntington campus.
The public is invited to attend the event, which is conducted by the Student
Government Association.
This year’s
visit will be different for Mo Lajterman. He won’t be in the memorial service
audience; rather, he’ll be on the stage as the featured speaker.
“It was very
shocking when I got the call from (Athletic Director) Mike Hamrick; I never expected it,” Lajterman said. “I’m very
honored and very emotional about it, but I had to take a couple of days to
think about it. But now, I’m looking forward to it.”
Lajterman and
his brothers have made the nine-hour drive from New Jersey to Huntington a few
times in recent years. They usually spend much of their time on the road
talking about Marcelo.
“I’m a very
emotional person,” said Mo, who was 17 when the plane went down. “I’m not a
professional speaker. I try to speak from the heart. It was such a tragic
accident and it still feels like it was yesterday. We still cry over it. But
these trips to Huntington help. We feel really close to our brother when we
make these trips.”
The trips didn’t
happen for many years after the crash. In fact, Mo came to Huntington for the
first time – by himself – in 2000 for the premiere of the documentary, “Ashes
to Glory.”
“I didn’t know a
soul,” he said. “Now, we feel like Marshall’s our home.”
Marcelo
Lajterman was 19 years old when he died in the crash. He was a kicker for the
Thundering Herd in 1970. Although it has been 42 years since the crash, the
Lajterman family makes sure that Marcelo’s name lives on through the Marcelo
Lajterman Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The Marshall
University Foundation, Inc., announced establishment of the scholarship in
2008. In 2010, members of the Lajterman family presented the foundation with a
check for $23,000 to endow the scholarship. Marcelo wore number 23 on his Herd
jersey.
The crash on
Saturday, Nov. 14, 1970, occurred at about 7:47 p.m. when a DC-9 jetliner,
returning Marshall home from its football game at East Carolina University in
Greenville, N.C., clipped some treetops just short of Tri-State Airport and
went down. Victims included 36 Marshall football players, nine coaches and
administrators, 25 fans and the crew of five.
“The Student
Government Association is esteemed to have the privilege of organizing the
annual Memorial Ceremony again this year,” said Student Body President Ray
Harrell Jr. “My chief of staff and the planning committee have done an
excellent job with this year’s program and we are hopeful that it will serve to
honor the victims of this terrible tragedy and their families. I hope that
members of the Marshall and Huntington communities will take an hour out of
their day to join us for this special event.”
In addition to
Lajterman and Harrell, others who will speak in the memorial service
include Marshall President Dr. Stephen J. Kopp, Marshall Athletic Director Mike
Hamrick, Football Coach Doc Holliday and a
representative from the Marshall Alumni Association.
Gov. Earl Ray
Tomblin, Sen. Joe Manchin, Rep. Nick Rahall and Congresswoman Shelley Moore
Capito have been invited to attend and speak.
The service will
conclude with the placing of the memorial wreath at the Memorial Fountain. The
fountain will be silenced after the laying of the wreath and remain silent until next spring.
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Photo: The photo of Marcelo Lajterman, one of the victims of the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash, was taken from Marshall’s 1970 football media guide. His brother, Mo Lajterman, will speak at the 2012 memorial service for victims of the crash.
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For further information, contact: Office of University Communications Marshall University 213 Old Main | Huntington, WV 25755-1090 Fax: (304) 696-3197 |
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