Aug 4, 2006 By Jean Lohr For The 4 min read

Some events are difficult to remember, others are impossible to forget. So, it is for many people in the tri-state area. They know exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

Nov. 14, 1970, is another “day that shall live in infamy.”

Marshall University’s own Web site states: “After all these years, the plane crash in Huntingdon, W.Va., that took the lives of all aboard remains the largest ‘sports-related’ tragedy in U.S. history.”

The Southern Airways DC-9 two-engine aircraft carried the Marshall football team, coaches and staff and a number of devoted fans – passengers and crew – a total of 75.

The chartered plane was returning from a game in Greenville, N.C., when it crashed and burned on approach to Tri-State Airport in Wayne County about 7:15 p.m. in a light rain.

A movie titled “We Are … Marshall,” echoes the chant of the student body at sporting events.

Filmed by Warner Brothers and Thunder Road Pictures, the feature, which recounts the crash and the university’s dramatic comeback against insurmountable odds, is in postproduction. It is scheduled for release later this year.

It stars Matthew McConaughey (“Failure to Launch” – 2006), David Strathairn (“Good Night and Good Luck” – 2005, directed by George Clooney) and the up-and-coming star of voice-overs, commercials and corporate training films, Uniontown native Mark Oliver.

Oliver worked for UPS in Atlanta, Ga., until 1995 as a way to keep food on the table and the bill collectors at bay until he got his career established.

He said the “We Are … Marshall” script “does not dwell on the crash, but places its focus squarely on the team overcoming unbelievable odds.”

McConaughey portrays the head coach.

“He knew he was walking into a very bad situation,” Oliver said of McConaughey’s character. “He knew that this would be a struggle.”

There was controversy about fielding a football team the next year. Calmer minds prevailed, and for the 1971 season, a team made up of players drafted from other campus sports programs rose to the challenges they faced.

“This was the most exciting and fun project I’ve done so far,” said Oliver, whose career spans 20 years.

“I play Ernie Salvatore, the lead reporter at the Huntingdon Herald (newspaper),” he said.

Salvatore, Oliver noted, was able to support him through the project.

“I contacted him, and he is such a nice, grounded, down-to-earth guy. He couldn’t have been more gracious,” Oliver said.

Speaking with Salvatore also allowed Oliver, who does the movie menus for the Turner Classic Movie network from the convenience of his home sound studio, to pick up on the cadence and rhythm of his speech.

“Salvatore was originally from Greenwich, Connecticut,” Oliver said, “and he was very insightful and was able to help me fill the gaps in the story. He gave me access to everything I needed.”

The movie was filmed in Huntingdon, where the crew re-created a 1970-style set on the streets of the city.

Oliver filmed one day in Huntingdon and seven more in Atlanta the home base of Southern Airways.

Born in Uniontown, Oliver spent his formative years in Fayette County. He now lives in Marietta, Ga., with his wife Andrea, a New Jersey native, and daughter, Olivia, 2.

“My grandmother, Mary Sisson, raised me – with my dad – after my mother died,” he said in a phone interview. “She is just such a wonderful lady. … and she took such good care of me. I just can’t say enough about her.”

But a later relocation separated the two.

“I’ve really had the best of both worlds,” he said. “When my dad remarried in 1974 and we moved to Georgia, I got the most wonderful stepmother you could imagine. She grounded me and helped me so much, too.”

But still he returns to Uniontown.

He holds many fond memories of the area that is rich with family. “We like to come back at least twice a year,” he said.

Next up for Oliver was “Daddy’s Little Girl” filmed with Tyler Perry.

“I played a very aggressive attorney,” Oliver said. “We just finished filming two weeks ago. Perry insists on a profanity-free set, which sends a strong moral message, and I applaud that.” Oliver will be in town for a short vacation and then he will choose his options. “I have certainly been blessed,” he concluded. “I have no complaints at all.”

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For more information about “We Are … Marshall,” go to www.marshall.edu/movie/.