Crash survivor Mark Howard shows some of his Lynyrd Skynyrd & plane crash memorablia
Mike Rounsaville at the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash site on the 40th Anniversary of the crash.
.....In my mind, there are two kind of folks in this world, those of us that got to grow up in the deep south, below the Mason-Dixon Line --- and those that wish they had. And, to that you can add --- those of us that grew up in an era when Lynyrd Skynyrd were at the top of their game. We proved all this to be true, this past Friday, as about a hundred people or so came to the site in Amite County, Mississippi,
near the town of Gillsburg, whereas all that ended in one night, on
OCT 20, 1977. All due to one fatal, air crash disaster, that claimed the lives of three band members, a road manager, and both pilots. However, due to the quick thinking and actions of local volunteers, and medical personnel, of all the twenty-six on board, twenty of those left --- survived. We all came to celebrate 40 years gone by on OCT 20, 2017, and pay tribute to the survivors, the dead, and reunite some of the survivors, with the rescue party. .....I told my friend and reporter for the Clarion Ledger, Justin Vicory, as we hopped into my pickup, for my third or fourth trip down to the site, to guide another tour of people that came to see it, " hey dude, you know, this is the day to be here --- not tomorrow, on October 21st, or even the 22nd. Today, we are involved in a small part of history..." He said, " Mike, you're absolutely right, and, it's gonna be in the Clarion on Sunday, and now that we're affiliated with USA TODAY, my article will go nationwide...." And it did, just like he said it would. As far as WLBT, Channel 3, out of Jackson, Miss. showing up, I don't know what happened there..?? The girl with news crew management, for the station, called myself and Dwain both, on the Thursday, prior to the 20th, and told us they were coming --- unless some other breaking news didn't take them away. Well, thank you, typical, North Jackson, Miss. for having another shooting, killing, armed robbery, or average ghetto crap that pulled them to cover that story. ⚔️�� Whatever it was....they never showed up.....??? �� Oh, well...I think Justin did a great job on his news story. Also, credit to reporters Scott Boyd: sorry, didn't catch the name of your affiliated newspaper......and Matt Williamson, of the Enterprise-Journal of McComb, for making the scene to cover the story. And the live radio show...?? Yeah, they came out and did a great job on the music. Mark Irish and Jason couldn't bring their tech man and his equipment, to do the live feed through the internet, so, we all there were the only ones to hear it. I'd say all-in-all we batted a .500 to.600.... like a TV evangelist --- we were at least a half-ass on promise and coverage. wink emoticon;-) �� .....Now as far as the spectrum of people that showed up..?? Wow..!! ����There was a couple that came all the way from Italy...����️ and some more people from England....����️. That's the couple from Italy in the picture with my Confederate flag. I asked them, " when we found y'all out there on the road, you had found out already, where it was, by GPS and the internet....but you didn't plan on seeing and finding all this, did you...?? " And they replied, " no way...we didn't even expect to have access to it all.." We had people there of all races, religions, and denominations. Yeah, I was kind of shocked, but they never stopped filming or taking pictures. If they were from Louisiana, especially New Orleans, you can bet they were Catholic, so they fit right in on the " like-to-drink -- a lot, part...." tongue emoticon:-P�������� There was a couple that came dressed for a Halloween party, as you can see them in that pic with Mark in their purple and yellow LSU colors. I looked out through the woods at them, (almost spit my beer out) and said, " What-In-The-Helll...?? " And, when they walked up to me and said, " we're on our way to a costume party..." I pointed north and said, " the LSU/ Ole Miss game is tomorrow night, up my way, in Oxford...did y'all miss a turn or something, off I-55..??? They laughed and said, " no, we just wanted to come on the 40th to the site...on the way to the party..." I came back with, " it's already happening now --- got an extra beer..?? " smile emoticon:-) We had so many people roll through, from all walks of life, and we didn't charge any of them a dime. A great crowd, with Marc B Frank from South Carolina, and Mark Howard from Texas, of the band's road crew back in '77. They are both survivors of that crash, and wanted to meet everyone, especially Dwain Easley, Jamie D Wall, and Brenda Martin, who were some of the first to respond to the situation. .....Whenever I'd take another batch down for another tour..." My Kids " as I called them that day, would tag along. They'd go rustling in the leaves around the impact zone, like a bunch of annoying grey squirrels, on a dry, opening morning of deer season, and find another part or two of the plane. At day's end they had found over ten to twelve pieces. You can see them in that pic with the hatchet. I changed their names later to " My Comanche/ Cherokee Scouts ". I been pokin' around down there almost three years, and ain't found crap but a Pepsi can. frown emoticon:-( �� ..... As you can see, all had a great time. I hope I did good on the tour guide part, I didn't ask for the job, just some of the locals had other obligations and had to leave early. Dwain had to stay up top and cook, so, it got bestowed upon myself and Jamie, to fill in. They made me do the carving in the tree, to commemorate the 40th, that I think mostly everyone that day carved their name in that tree, also. I just told and showed what all of them involved, had shown and taught me in the last three years ---- learning about the whole story, and how it unfolded that night. At least I'll say my tour patrons were kind and gracious to their guide --- they kept him in a good supply of adult refreshments.
