Former Manasquan Cheer Coach Keeps Memory Of TWA Flight 800 Alive

MANASQUAN, NJ — Twenty-five years ago this past Saturday was the 25th anniversary of the TWA Flight 800 explosion off the coast of Long Island. The blast could be heard for miles, as far away as Brick, where Skip Pulcrano heard the loud boom and ran to the TV to find out what had happened.

All 230 people on the Paris-bound flight perished in the explosion, including a group of students and chaperones from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Two of the students in that group were cheerleaders, which struck a chord with Pulcrano.

At the time, Pulcrano was the head coach with ShoreCheer in Manasquan; and along with cheerleading, Pulcrano made sure that his kids were actively doing community service.

“We had an event a couple of weeks later, we had an event, and we brought five large megaphones with us and had all the cheerleaders sign them,” Pulcrano said.

A couple of weeks later, the ShoreCheer team traveled to Montoursville to present the signed megaphones. Every year since, Pulcrano has traveled to Montoursville for a remembrance ceremony, even after retiring as a cheerleading coach.

“It keeps the spirit (of the victims) alive,” Pulcrano said.

Over the decades since the tragedy, the ShoreCheer team went with Pulcrano every year for the memorial ceremony. It helps build a bond between the towns of Montoursville and Manasquan, which was seen during Superstorm Sandy.

“When Sandy happened, the kids from Montoursville drew pictures for the kids in Manasquan, wishing them good luck,” Pulcrano said.

Pulcrano feels that it’s important for kids to do community service like this because they will carry it with them for the rest of their lives.

“It teaches kids humility and that tragedy can happen at any time,” Pulcrano said.