- Every weekend and many days during the week, fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd and those who are just curious take a trip down the winding Mississippi country roads to see the memorial.
You won’t find much about eight miles back from Interstate 55 in Magnolia, Mississippi. Thin two-lane roads (and some unpaved roads) wind through the trees, allowing you to drink in the beautiful scenery surrounding you. Quiet. Quaint.
However, buried in this humble countryside is a monument reflecting one of the most tragic moments in rock-and-roll history.
The Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument: Serenity at the Site of the Tragedy
Southern rock fans worldwide stopped and turned all eyes on a small patch of farmland in Magnolia on the night of October 20, 1977, when the plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed on its way to Baton Rouge. Singer and founder Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, his sister and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines, and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, along with both pilots Captain Walter McCreary and First Officer William John Gray all died, while 20 others survived.
The Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument, roughly 600 yards from the original crash site, stands tall amongst a clearing that property owner Dwain Easley dedicated to the cause. Easley cared because he was there. The plane crashed just 800 yards from his home. Easley was 26 years old on that fateful night when he rushed to pull people from the plane.
Fast forward 46 years, and now the land on which this horrific event took place is a beacon of serenity that paves the way for thousands of fans to come and pay their respects.
If You Build it, They Will Come
It was not until 2010 that members of Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument Inc., the non-profit that erected and maintained the monument, even considered doing anything at the site. Until then, Easley said the men who responded that night hadn’t even spoken of the event again.
“We’re all around here, close to each other, we did life together,” said Easley. “But it wasn’t until we got asked to do a couple of interviews that we started thinking we should do something.”
The board members, comprised of crash survivors and some of the heroes from that night, had settled on putting up a sign at the site similar to a trail marker. But as word got out, money came in.
“We were just going to do a sign,” said Easley. “But when we put the word out, the Skynyrd fans just started giving. Judy Van Zant, Ronnie’s wife, gave us a big check.”
Given the organization’s non-profit status, they couldn’t keep the surplus money. It became evident that this cause—and the fans—called for more than a sign.
Seven tons of black granite have gone into the monument, and its individual pillars are subtly illuminated at night. Every weekend and many days during the week, fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd and those who are just curious take a trip down the winding country roads to see the memorial that rises amongst the trees.
“We’ve had sixty countries represented here,” said Easley. “And not just once or twice. Several people came from Switzerland, and two were here just this morning.”
There’s a steady flow of visitors throughout the year. Still, thousands travel to the monument in October, usually the 19th and 20th, depending on when the date falls in the week, to commemorate the crash.
“We started with around 1,000 to 1,200 people,” said Easley. “Last year, we had close to 3,000.”
The monument has no audience space, so the non-profit rarely advertises events there.
“The county lets us close down the road each year,” said Easley. “We bring out food trucks to feed folks. You’ll have artists standing up there to play, but mostly, folks bring their chairs and sit along the road; some park at my campground. And it’s still peaceful.”
This sense of peace, Easley said, is why they’ve not considered clearing additional land for parking.
“We’d lose the quiet here,” said Easley. “It feels like a memorial now, but if you build it, they will come.”
Just a farm boy, hailed a hero by Lynyrd Skynyrd fans.
In the early evening of October 20, 1977, 26-year-old Dwain Easley was in his parents’ home after a day of working in the hay fields. He had been considering going hunting before he decided otherwise. It was a normal night until his mother started carrying the landline phone with its 20-foot spiral cord toward him.
“She had gotten a call, and a plane was going down by the house,” said Easley. “We had seen helicopters flying around, but because of the McComb airport, we saw planes and helicopters all the time.”
Flyovers were common because Magnolia is located between McComb and Baton Rouge. Hearing or seeing a helicopter overhead was nothing unusual, but this night, it was a sign.
“He was flying real low and circling, and we figured he was looking for the plane,” said Easley.
“But when he hovered over with a spotlight, we figured that’s where the plane was, and we headed out that way.”
Easley had worked in the hay fields with Wayne Blades that day, and they headed out to the site. When they managed to get through, they knew they had to jump to action without waiting immediately.
“I just knew we could hear people hollering for help,” said Easley. “We didn’t even know who it was. The news folks started showing up to report, but they had them back about 100 yards in case of an explosion. We didn’t know who it was until it was all over.”
Easley said it wouldn’t have mattered even if he knew immediately that the plane belonged to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“I just knew I could hear them inside when I walked up. ‘Help, get me out,’ that sort of thing,” said Easley. “When you hear that, you just do it.”
The images from the wreckage that night have stayed with Easley.
“I saw too much,” said Easley. “Nobody really made it back there with a camera, not before we got everyone and the bodies out,” said Easley. “I don’t think I’d want to see it anyway.”
The Monument Stands for More than Memories
While the monument stands as a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the lives lost at that horrific crash site, the non-profit stands for more than just rock-and-roll memories.
“The money is still coming in,” said Easley. “We can’t keep it. We pay for maintenance and all, and then we donate it.”
Easley said they’ve supported the Van Zant and Gaines’ families as well as the survivors’ families in various efforts throughout the years.
“We’ve donated money to them, to help through the years, or if they have a charity event set up for something,” said Easley. “And anything else we donate to children’s organizations and to St. Jude’s Children’s hospital.”
The members of the monument board have also traveled to events throughout the country for charity reasons, including Rockin’ for a Reason, an event that raises money for the crash survivors in Jacksonville, Florida, near the graves of Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, and keys player Billy Powell.
For more information about how to support the monument, visit here. See the monument for yourself at 7364 Easley Rd, Magnolia, Mississippi, 39652.
Courtney Ingle
