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Tagged: Tim Z. Hernandez

History
12:28 pm
Thu March 28, 2013

The People Behind Guthrie's 'Deportee' Verses

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Originally published on Thu March 28, 2013 11:00 am

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We want to turn, now, to a current effort to address a decades-old tragedy. In 1948, a U.S. Immigration Service plane carrying undocumented immigrants from California to Mexico, crashed. All 32 people onboard were killed. But while news accounts listed the names of the four people in the flight crew, the 28 undocumented victims were just listed as Mexican deportees.

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Community
9:07 am
Tue March 5, 2013

Coalinga 'Deportee' Plane Crash Sparks Search, 65 Years Later

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Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
Carlos Rascon, director of cemeteries for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno walks past the grave of the 28 'deportees'
Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
A simple, tarnished plaque marks the grave of 28 'deportees' who died in a plane crash near Coalinga in 1948
Credit timzhernandez.com
Author Tim Z. Hernandez is leading the search for information about the crash victims
Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
Coalinga resident Larry Haws stands at the site where the DC-3 crashed in Los Gatos Canyon
Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
Trees at the site of the accident still bears the marks of the crash, 65 years later
Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
A propeller from the D-3 that crashed in Los Gatos Canyon in 1948 now rests in the Coalinga Museum
Credit Rebecca Plevin / Valley Public Radio
An abandonded store sits near the crash site
The cover of The Fresno Bee - January 28, 1948
The cover of The Fresno Bee - January 29, 1948
Credit Tim Z. Hernandez
Photos and an article about the funeral for the 28 "deportees"
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Author Tim Z. Hernandez was digging through old newspapers at the Fresno County library when a dramatic headline from the late 1940s captured his attention.

“I stumbled upon this headline that said, ‘100 people see a ship plunge to the earth’ or something like that. It was just really a captivating headline. I instantly realized after reading it that it had to be tied into Woody Guthrie’s song,” says Hernandez. 

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