Remembering the Aces

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I was traveling last week and didn't get a chance to post that last Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the airplane crash that killed the University of Evansville basketball team.

Around Evansville, December 13, 1977, will be forever referred to as "The Night it Rained Tears."  A DC-3 had just taken off from Dress Regional Airport, carrying the first-year Division I Aces to a game at Middle Tennessee State.  The Aces were coming off their first ever DI win and would be taking on a team that chalked up 20 wins the following night.  But 90 seconds after taking off, the plane came crashing back to earth, killing all 29 people on board.  The crash was later determined to have been caused by human error.  You can Google the details if you want more background.

(To add to the tragedy, one member of the team who did not travel on that flight because of an injury was killed two weeks later in a car crash.)

I was 3 years old when this happened.  I didn't even know about it until 1990, when I was researching colleges to attend.  I ultimately decided to go to UE.  Part of that decision was the opportunity to earn a small scholarship working as an equipment manager with the basketball program.

On the small UE campus, there's a fountain that was dedicated the year after the crash.  When it's turned on, it's referred to as the "Weeping Basketball".  Near the fountain are two stone obelisks with the names of the players, coaches, and UE personnel who perished that night.  And above their names are these words:  "Out of the agony of this hour, we will rise."

I often stopped and stood between the obelisks because it was said that if you stood in just the right spot, all other sound was blocked.  I pondered the fate of these men.  The irony of a coach who survived two tours in Vietnam, only to die coaching a basketball team.  The legendary broadcaster who would no longer greet his "sports friends".  The father of one of my fraternity brothers.

Even though I was far removed from this tragedy it remains a small part of me.  It remains a small part of everyone who has called themselves a Purple Ace.  It remains a large part of Evansville's history.  May these men never be forgotten.

Evansville Courier & Press:  Program has risen from agony of crash

[Locutus]

(To add to the tragedy, one member of the team who did not travel on that flight because of an injury was killed two weeks later in a car crash.)

Wow!   

The Grim Reaper was certainly after that group.  Thanks for posting such an interesting story.  I especially like the "Weeping Basketball" fountain.  It, along with the obelisks, seems a fitting tribute to those that perished.   

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