| About me: |
I had just started kindergarten in September, at a Lutheran parochial school in Valparaiso, Indiana. It had never occurred to me before the OLA fire that school was a place where kids could die. In addition, in late 1957 there had been a traumatic fire in our Valparaiso University neighborhood (my father taught at Valpo and was affected by it). The fire was only about 4 blocks away, and I can recall the ash and stink that spread over our neighborhood. So I was already sensitized to fire when OLA burned. To this day I cannot hear the name without shuddering.
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