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  .........Fred Burton Kennard.........
                              "Summer 1952"                  1-13-35......1-18-52
                                                                              Aged 17 years

     Fred was living with his family in Downey at the time and going to Southgate High
on a special authorization. One Saturday morning four of his friends from school
decided to raft down part of the Los Angeles river from about Gage Ave to end about
Firestone before the little dam. I Don't recall all the names of the other guys but Larry
Titchner, from our class of '51, was one of them. Fred put on a pair of hip waders (a
big mistake as once they are filled with water they weigh about 30 pounds) before they
entered the water on the 4/5 man rubber raft. Not to long after they entered the
water they ran into some very turbulent water and the raft capsized. Several of the guys
were able to get back in the raft but Fred was not able to swim with all of that extra
weigh and went under. One of the boys made it to shore.

       Search parties looked for several days all the way down to Golden Beach but to no
avail. I went back to the Navy and overseas almost immediately. I believe it was
mid May that after another big rain and flooding of the L.A. River that his body was
found in the sand near the bridge at Long Beach Blvd . His body was well preserved
by the refrigeration action of the water running over the sand. He was Placed in the
Moslems in Compton.
           Information supplied by Fred's cousin, Earl Kennard... Class of 51...
Webmaster note.. My cousin David Thompson was asked to join in on the rafting trip but had to decline because of a previous engagement....