'Pomona Boys Die in Crash of Stolen Plane'

I saw the plane after the crash. It was on the northwest corner of the school next to the teachers parking lot right next to Towne Ave. There is a small classroom there now where the plane crashed. Some people say that the engine is still buried there.

One thing that caught my eye about the Times article was that back in the day, they used to print your exact address, not like today. Now it's only "the 1900 block of ....."

[Yeah, that was standard style back then. We give people a little more privacy now. -- DA]

I was in high school at the time and lived one short block directly south of Emerson when this happened. I saw the scene when the fire was still burning and it appeared a hand was visible in the burning wreckage. There was a cover over an object nearby. Not one of my best of life experiences.

I went to school with both boys. Tommy McDonald (I think that was his name) and I were in the same grade. They lived not too far from us. They mostly kept to themselves. I remember that they liked pumpernickel bread sandwiches -- funny how after all of these years I remember that detail. I do remember that awful day, and how badly I felt -- sick really. Today we would receive counseling to deal with our feelings, but back them no one said anything -- not a thing. The boys were here one day and gone the next. I sometimes wonder even today what would have become of the boys -- they were very bright, but loners. Even now I am sad thinking about their short lives. God bless them and their families.