Plain Dealer
Cleveland, Ohio
May 20, 1988
Kentucky town begins burying crash victims
By BILL SLOAT
STAFF WRITER
Radcliff, Ky. --- Radcliff started to bury its children yesterday, just a few hours before 4,000 people were expected at a football stadium to honor 27 victims of a bus disaster that has kept this city in mourning since Saturday.
"Joshua has gone on before us," said Pastor W. Don Tennison of the First Assembly of God, preaching a service for Joshua Conyers, 14 who enjoyed karate and fishing. "Now it's our opportunity to continue the journey."
Joshua's grave is only a few hundred yards from North Hardin High School, where he was a ninth-grader. The youngster was hailed for rescuing his younger brother, Aaron, from the burning bus at the risk of his own life.
Aaron, 12, is listed in critical condition at Louisville's Kosair Children Hospital, undergoing surgery for burns.
Witnesses said Joshua and two other boys locked arms and fought their way across the seats to the rear emergency door. When Joshua discovered Aaron wasn't with him, he turned back and pushed his brother to safety.
All eight country schools were closed for the funerals and 300 of Joshua's ninth-grade classmates attended the service. As they left the cemetery, each student picked up a red rose from a graveside bouquet.
Tennison, whose churched owned the bus, said he was not going to dwell on the town's grief.
"I'm not here to talk about death," he said at Joshua's funeral, "rather to talk about life. Lord, today we lean, not looking at the end, but a beginning."
A funeral was held at St. Christopher Church for three other youngsters --- Mary Catheryn Daniels, 14; Denise Ellen Voglund, 13; and Amy Christine Wheelock. Julie Ann Earnest, 12, was buried in a brief graveside ceremony. Tina Michelle Mustain, 14, was taken to Texas.
A few hours after buring the first victims, city officials, clergy and the military were preparing for a citywide memorial at the stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
Army troops from adjacent Fort Knox were setting up folding chairs. The hourlong ceremony was to be broadcast live statewide on a TV hook-up.
Sixteen of the dead were military dependents.
Gov. Wallace Wilkinson declared yesterday an official day of mourning and flags in Kentucky flew at half-staff. But there were other signs of the state's shock and grief as well.
Truckers traveling on Interstate 71 drove with their headlights on during daylight hours as a salute. Flowers were piled up on the median where the crash occured about 60 miles southwest of Cincinnati, and stores and businesses in Radcliff posted notes saying, "Our hearts are with you."
Even as the dead were being memoralized, the American Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors for 12 teen-agers hospitalized with severe burns or respiratory damage.
Hundreds responded, and some centers were overcrowded in an outpouring that overwhelmed the agency.
The bus was returning from a Saturday outing at Ohio's Kings Island amusement park when it was rammed by a pickup truck, then burned in a gasoline fire. Police said 67 were aboard.
The driver of the pickup, Larry W. Mahoney, 34, has been charged with 27 counts of murder. Police said Mahoney's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
Transcribed by: GenealogyGirl
Cleveland, Ohio
May 20, 1988
Kentucky town begins burying crash victims
By BILL SLOAT
STAFF WRITER
Radcliff, Ky. --- Radcliff started to bury its children yesterday, just a few hours before 4,000 people were expected at a football stadium to honor 27 victims of a bus disaster that has kept this city in mourning since Saturday.
"Joshua has gone on before us," said Pastor W. Don Tennison of the First Assembly of God, preaching a service for Joshua Conyers, 14 who enjoyed karate and fishing. "Now it's our opportunity to continue the journey."
Joshua's grave is only a few hundred yards from North Hardin High School, where he was a ninth-grader. The youngster was hailed for rescuing his younger brother, Aaron, from the burning bus at the risk of his own life.
Aaron, 12, is listed in critical condition at Louisville's Kosair Children Hospital, undergoing surgery for burns.
Witnesses said Joshua and two other boys locked arms and fought their way across the seats to the rear emergency door. When Joshua discovered Aaron wasn't with him, he turned back and pushed his brother to safety.
All eight country schools were closed for the funerals and 300 of Joshua's ninth-grade classmates attended the service. As they left the cemetery, each student picked up a red rose from a graveside bouquet.
Tennison, whose churched owned the bus, said he was not going to dwell on the town's grief.
"I'm not here to talk about death," he said at Joshua's funeral, "rather to talk about life. Lord, today we lean, not looking at the end, but a beginning."
A funeral was held at St. Christopher Church for three other youngsters --- Mary Catheryn Daniels, 14; Denise Ellen Voglund, 13; and Amy Christine Wheelock. Julie Ann Earnest, 12, was buried in a brief graveside ceremony. Tina Michelle Mustain, 14, was taken to Texas.
A few hours after buring the first victims, city officials, clergy and the military were preparing for a citywide memorial at the stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
Army troops from adjacent Fort Knox were setting up folding chairs. The hourlong ceremony was to be broadcast live statewide on a TV hook-up.
Sixteen of the dead were military dependents.
Gov. Wallace Wilkinson declared yesterday an official day of mourning and flags in Kentucky flew at half-staff. But there were other signs of the state's shock and grief as well.
Truckers traveling on Interstate 71 drove with their headlights on during daylight hours as a salute. Flowers were piled up on the median where the crash occured about 60 miles southwest of Cincinnati, and stores and businesses in Radcliff posted notes saying, "Our hearts are with you."
Even as the dead were being memoralized, the American Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors for 12 teen-agers hospitalized with severe burns or respiratory damage.
Hundreds responded, and some centers were overcrowded in an outpouring that overwhelmed the agency.
The bus was returning from a Saturday outing at Ohio's Kings Island amusement park when it was rammed by a pickup truck, then burned in a gasoline fire. Police said 67 were aboard.
The driver of the pickup, Larry W. Mahoney, 34, has been charged with 27 counts of murder. Police said Mahoney's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
Transcribed by: GenealogyGirl
Plain Dealer
Cleveland, Ohio
May 20, 1988
Kentucky town begins burying crash victims
By BILL SLOAT
STAFF WRITER
Radcliff, Ky. --- Radcliff started to bury its children yesterday, just a few hours before 4,000 people were expected at a football stadium to honor 27 victims of a bus disaster that has kept this city in mourning since Saturday.
"Joshua has gone on before us," said Pastor W. Don Tennison of the First Assembly of God, preaching a service for Joshua Conyers, 14 who enjoyed karate and fishing. "Now it's our opportunity to continue the journey."
Joshua's grave is only a few hundred yards from North Hardin High School, where he was a ninth-grader. The youngster was hailed for rescuing his younger brother, Aaron, from the burning bus at the risk of his own life.
Aaron, 12, is listed in critical condition at Louisville's Kosair Children Hospital, undergoing surgery for burns.
Witnesses said Joshua and two other boys locked arms and fought their way across the seats to the rear emergency door. When Joshua discovered Aaron wasn't with him, he turned back and pushed his brother to safety.
All eight country schools were closed for the funerals and 300 of Joshua's ninth-grade classmates attended the service. As they left the cemetery, each student picked up a red rose from a graveside bouquet.
Tennison, whose churched owned the bus, said he was not going to dwell on the town's grief.
"I'm not here to talk about death," he said at Joshua's funeral, "rather to talk about life. Lord, today we lean, not looking at the end, but a beginning."
A funeral was held at St. Christopher Church for three other youngsters --- Mary Catheryn Daniels, 14; Denise Ellen Voglund, 13; and Amy Christine Wheelock. Julie Ann Earnest, 12, was buried in a brief graveside ceremony. Tina Michelle Mustain, 14, was taken to Texas.
A few hours after buring the first victims, city officials, clergy and the military were preparing for a citywide memorial at the stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
Army troops from adjacent Fort Knox were setting up folding chairs. The hourlong ceremony was to be broadcast live statewide on a TV hook-up.
Sixteen of the dead were military dependents.
Gov. Wallace Wilkinson declared yesterday an official day of mourning and flags in Kentucky flew at half-staff. But there were other signs of the state's shock and grief as well.
Truckers traveling on Interstate 71 drove with their headlights on during daylight hours as a salute. Flowers were piled up on the median where the crash occured about 60 miles southwest of Cincinnati, and stores and businesses in Radcliff posted notes saying, "Our hearts are with you."
Even as the dead were being memoralized, the American Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors for 12 teen-agers hospitalized with severe burns or respiratory damage.
Hundreds responded, and some centers were overcrowded in an outpouring that overwhelmed the agency.
The bus was returning from a Saturday outing at Ohio's Kings Island amusement park when it was rammed by a pickup truck, then burned in a gasoline fire. Police said 67 were aboard.
The driver of the pickup, Larry W. Mahoney, 34, has been charged with 27 counts of murder. Police said Mahoney's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
Transcribed by: GenealogyGirl
Cleveland, Ohio
May 20, 1988
Kentucky town begins burying crash victims
By BILL SLOAT
STAFF WRITER
Radcliff, Ky. --- Radcliff started to bury its children yesterday, just a few hours before 4,000 people were expected at a football stadium to honor 27 victims of a bus disaster that has kept this city in mourning since Saturday.
"Joshua has gone on before us," said Pastor W. Don Tennison of the First Assembly of God, preaching a service for Joshua Conyers, 14 who enjoyed karate and fishing. "Now it's our opportunity to continue the journey."
Joshua's grave is only a few hundred yards from North Hardin High School, where he was a ninth-grader. The youngster was hailed for rescuing his younger brother, Aaron, from the burning bus at the risk of his own life.
Aaron, 12, is listed in critical condition at Louisville's Kosair Children Hospital, undergoing surgery for burns.
Witnesses said Joshua and two other boys locked arms and fought their way across the seats to the rear emergency door. When Joshua discovered Aaron wasn't with him, he turned back and pushed his brother to safety.
All eight country schools were closed for the funerals and 300 of Joshua's ninth-grade classmates attended the service. As they left the cemetery, each student picked up a red rose from a graveside bouquet.
Tennison, whose churched owned the bus, said he was not going to dwell on the town's grief.
"I'm not here to talk about death," he said at Joshua's funeral, "rather to talk about life. Lord, today we lean, not looking at the end, but a beginning."
A funeral was held at St. Christopher Church for three other youngsters --- Mary Catheryn Daniels, 14; Denise Ellen Voglund, 13; and Amy Christine Wheelock. Julie Ann Earnest, 12, was buried in a brief graveside ceremony. Tina Michelle Mustain, 14, was taken to Texas.
A few hours after buring the first victims, city officials, clergy and the military were preparing for a citywide memorial at the stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
Army troops from adjacent Fort Knox were setting up folding chairs. The hourlong ceremony was to be broadcast live statewide on a TV hook-up.
Sixteen of the dead were military dependents.
Gov. Wallace Wilkinson declared yesterday an official day of mourning and flags in Kentucky flew at half-staff. But there were other signs of the state's shock and grief as well.
Truckers traveling on Interstate 71 drove with their headlights on during daylight hours as a salute. Flowers were piled up on the median where the crash occured about 60 miles southwest of Cincinnati, and stores and businesses in Radcliff posted notes saying, "Our hearts are with you."
Even as the dead were being memoralized, the American Red Cross issued a plea for blood donors for 12 teen-agers hospitalized with severe burns or respiratory damage.
Hundreds responded, and some centers were overcrowded in an outpouring that overwhelmed the agency.
The bus was returning from a Saturday outing at Ohio's Kings Island amusement park when it was rammed by a pickup truck, then burned in a gasoline fire. Police said 67 were aboard.
The driver of the pickup, Larry W. Mahoney, 34, has been charged with 27 counts of murder. Police said Mahoney's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
Transcribed by: GenealogyGirl
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