1/28 66th Anniversary of place crash that killed 32 people over Los Gatos Canyon (Deportee)

[annm4peace]

from the awesome progressive newspaper in Fresno Co. the Community Alliance:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-Alliance-Newspaper/147659788596394

January 28, is the 66th. anniversary of the plane crash that killed 32 people over Los Gatos Canyon,
near Coalinga, Fresno County, California.

Out of those 32 people, 28 were Braceros —27 men and one woman.
They were on their way to Mexico, deported by the US immigration authorities —then called INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service).

Today, friends and family of those Braceros who died in the accident will gather to remember them.


This accident called attention because the names of of the farmworkers killed were not released. Only 12 were identified, but most media reports of the time called them “Deportees.” They were buried without names in Fresno. However the story was widely known in the music world thanks to a poem written by Woody Guthrie, with music by Martin Hoffman. Later, Pete Seeger made it popular around the country under the title “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)”. Coincidentally, Seeger passed on January 27, 2014, at age 94.

A couple of years ago, the story was brought home by two local artists, poet Tim Z. Hernandez and singer Lance Canales, who embarked in the mission of finding the names of the “Deportees”. Finally, on September 2, 2013, a new headstone at the Holy Cross Cemetery was unveiled with all the names.


January 28, 2014, Lance Canales releases the video of his own interpretation of
the famous song “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)”

This song has been interpreted by many well known artists such as Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, and many others, yet for the first time Deportee have a name.


spare seven minutes of you time to check the video.

[DreamGypsy]

1. Thanks. I have listened to the song hundreds of times...

...in the versions by Woody, Pete, Judy, Joan, Arlo, Peter Paul & Mary, Bruce, Nanci, and Richard. Most frequently, I heard it on the Byrds Ballad of Easy Rider album - a personal favorite. The version by Lance Canales is very good...and special because of the names - and the commitment made by Canales and Hernandez to honor the victims as real people.

Now, the song will be much more powerful. Every time I hear it the dead will no longer be 'deportees', they are:

Twenty-eight Mexican Citizens:

Miguel Negrete Alvarez
Francisco Llamas Durán
Santiago Garcia Elizondo
Rosalio Padilla Estrada
Tomás Aviña de Gracia
Bernabé López Garcia
Salvador Sandoval Hernández
Severo Medina Lara
Elias Trujillo Macias
José Rodriguez Macias
Tomás Padilla Márquez
Luis López Medina
Manuel Calderón Merino
Luis Cuevas Miranda
Martin Razo Navarro
Ignacio Pérez Navarro
Román Ochoa Ochoa
Ramón Ramirez Paredes
Apolonio Ramirez Placencia
Guadalupe Lara Ramirez
Alberto Carlos Raygoza
Guadalupe Hernández Rodriguez
Maria Santana Rodriguez
Juan Valenzuela Ruiz
Wenceslao Flores Ruiz
José Valdivia Sánchez
Jesús Meza Santos
Baldomero Marcas Torres

Four members of the crew:

Francis "Frank" Atkinson, Pilot
Marion Harlow Ewing, Co-Pilot
Lillian "Bobbie" Atkinson, Stewardess
Frank E. Chaffin, Immigration Guard

Adios mis amigos, Jesus Meza Santos y Maria Santana Rodriguez

[annm4peace]

2. thanks, it is nice to honor them

I grew up in a Latino neighborhood in Fresno, Ca and I did not know of this event or the song. It was way before my time but I would have thought I would have heard about it. I grew up hearing many stories of what migrant workers went through but not this story.

Even though I live in another state I have a subscription to the Fresno progressive paper Community Alliance. (which struggles)
and last year they had an article of this incredible story. I felt sad that I didn't know about it. But when I posted the story others knew the song. It was quite something to read about how the grandson of one of the victims and the son of one the rescuers came together to get the memorial. I'm sure it was healing for many and i'm so glad their story is told once again.