European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 21, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              By Anthony Tobin up staff writer "\v7illiam, died oct. 21st, 1968, aged t  Diane died oct. 2lst, 1988,  Llewellyn died oct. 21st, 1988,  two rows of Stark White painted wooden crosses poignant in their Sim  is the Valley of the Green hollow. Every grave covered with Flowers chrysanthemums dahlias carnations roses. Tiny China cherubs winged an gels statues of the Virgin of Lourdes and porcelain prayer books with the child s prayer carefully placed on the Damp Earth. Here a Glass encased photograph of a smiling boy. There a pretty Little  cemetery lies at the end of a narrow Road. It twists and turns up the Side of the grass covered Mountain like an Alpine path. Small Gray slab grave stones March in serried ranks Down the Steep slopes. Over on the right screened by a copse of elms Oaks and firs the tiny White crosses Mirror the grief and mourning of a Village that just a year ago lost its heart and so much of its life. Aberfan on the Friday morning of oct. 21, 1966, probably would not have been on anyone s list of places to seek out for gaiety or cheer. It was just one of Many Welsh Coal mining communities where life for most was grim and  that morning a year ago miners of the Day shift As they did every morning except sunday Rose Early from their Beds and went Down to the pit at the Bottom of the Valley to begin work. The men of the night shift weary and Grimes with Coal dust wended their Way  were beginning to put away the breakfast dishes having gotten the children off to school and were now starting to make their Way to the Villag Butcher Baker and grocer for that eve Ning s or the next Day s  was 9 . Another hard working Day in Aberfan a tired Grimy Little Village. It there was one focal Point of laughter and Happy shouting the Chil Dren just then crowding into Aberfan Spant Glas Junior school. Pantelas is the Welsh word for Green  was the last laughter heard in Aber fan that Day or for Many More. Be cause at 9 . The Mountain of Coal waste brooding Over the Village was moving. In minutes the Village became place of horror and death. A million tons of Coal waste piled higher and higher for decades of mining until the pile could carry no More cascaded Down the verdant Hillside. The Avalanche of death a Black mess of water pit waste Ash slag and dust engulfed the Little school immediately in its path. It also crushed18 Homes and a farmhouse. With not a Chance to escape a Genera Tion of Aberfan s children was wiped out. Of the 144 who died in the muck Allbut 28 were children. Never had Wales known such a Dis Aster. Never had a single Village been More stricken More terribly grieved so swiftly. Throughout Britain and the world the Shock and sadness of Aberfan were shared. The instinct was to  poured into an Aberfan fund in amounts Large and Small. In All about$5 million was contributed. It was too much Money. The bitter Ness against authority for having Al Lowed the tragedy to happen official investigations have ruled it could have been prevented with even the most Rou Tine precautions is one thing. But the Money has brought bitterness too an divided the Village once United in com Mon  walk through the stricken Village a year later is an unnerving experience. Isolated scraps of conversation reach the ear. ". After All As i was telling , this is the welfare state. There s no need for anybody to be without Money nowadays. And when the fund starts paying. Old Dai s already booked up for his Holiday next year. Of course he can afford it now. Of yes. The Cash will be Handy Page 12 but things will never be the same. Why on Earth Haven t the surviving children got anything yet it disgusting the Way things Are going on. The disposition of the Money is question that looms Large in the thoughts of Aberfan. Iberian is different in other Way from the Village of a year ago. Down Moy Road where the Junior school was engulfed the quiet is deep. Tomb like is the comparison that leaps to , Gray and yellow Brick houses along the Road have newly painted win Dows and doors. Flowers Blossom again in the Little front gardens and carefully placed window vases. Steel helmeted workers Are still demolishing where the slide came to a halt at what is now the end of Moy Road. There Are no children except for an occasional Tod Dler of pre school age. All that remains of last year s Junior school is a red Brick and Graystone Wall. Shattered roof timbers lie about in Rackstraw fashion. About half a mile of the area where the Mountain comedown has been bulldozed and steam hollered Flat. On the far Side Over on Pantelas Road a Row of freshly painted houses reflect Pale blues greens an Whites through the rain filtered fall Sun. Between the houses and the one time schoolyard there is nothing a waste land of rubble. The National Coal Board Nib appalled by the tragedy of Aberfan and blamed for bungling ineptitude by the tribunal of inquiry which probed the disaster has its workers gnawing at the fallen tip. This one operation has Cost in the Region of $840,000. Six other tips hang Over the Village dominating the Skyline and worrying the people below. The tips will not be re moved. The investigating tribunal avoided the solution some had expected massive government financed program to remove level or landscape All the500 tips in Wales. The Cost would be1 prohibitive. Removal of the Aberfan tip Complex alone would Cost something like 3 million pounds $11.2 million an take four and a half years. _ a the other Side of the Mountain lies the tiny cemetery. Clusters of parents and relatives make daily Pilgrim Ages there fresh Cut Flowers gripped in their hands. Groups of workmen toil silently beyond the children s Graves. They Are building a permanent memorial to the victims of the disaster. The $56,000 first stage is expected to be completed by Christmas. It measures 40 by 70 feet and includes a Garden of rest paved in Brown Yorkston with Grey Portland Stone Walls. Linked Marble Arches overreach grave will be added in the second stage of construction. A 25-foot-High cel tic Cross made of Marble will Domin ate the site. An official inquest on the disaster held 16 Miles away at Merthyr tydfil town Hall was Over in four minutes and it too has generated angry controversy. Merthyr Coroner Benjami Hamilton recorded a verdict of Acci dental death for All 144 victims an for his Swift verdict is berated by Aber fan. John Collins who lost his wife an two children in the tragedy called the proceedings a  Collins immediately after the slide had demanded the cause of death of his family should be registered As murdered by the Coal  i am amazed at the Brevity of it All he said of the inquest. It was All Over with indecent haste and we hardly had time to sit  Coroner Hamilton said he deliberately kept the inquest Brief to prevent More suffering. My Only idea was to spare them any further anguish and any har one year $5 Millican later the Village that lost its heart nov a Csc ,1 2�& a. ,.i, .1 so Lubka xxx Elk ii 3ml 5 T 2iaioa� a v j jew to a rescuers dug frantically to save children trapped by slide in school but their efforts were largely useless. A Black death in the form of a million tons of slag and waste from Coal tip Tore heart out of Welsh Village of Aberfan. Up rowing details which would revive sad memories he said. The explanation did not satisfy Mostof the 90 parents who attended. And then there is the Money. Parents who lost children hav received $14,000 for each child lost. In All about$1.4 million has been paid to bereaved families. A provisional fund of $28,000 asset aside for the needs of injured Chil Dren. Another sum has been allocate for distribution to widows and for next of Kin who were dependent on adult skilled in the slide. Altogether total payouts and allocated benefits have to talled nearly $2.8 million so far. Not everyone in Aberfan suffered direct loss in the disaster so not every one has received or been put Down forepart of the Money. And this has caused  Elvet Bates is 48, tall with a Sallow face and fiery Black eyes. His nine year old son was pulled out of the Pantelas school with a Gash in his head in minutes the Village became a place of horror and death. A million tons of Coal waste. Cascaded Down the verdant  and a memory of the terror which still keeps the family awake at nights. But he lived. The bloody fund has split the Village in half he says. The worst thing that could have been done was to give the bereaved parents Money the 5,000 pounds that they have had without giving something to the parents and children who sur Vived at the same  his jaw Muscles twitch As he look around the bar of the local sex service men s club and Points out men whose children were trapped then rescued and others whose children weren t so Lucky. I have a sister in Law who lives just30 Yards from my Home he said. She lost a daughter in the1 disaster. No that she has 5,000 pounds she will not speak to me. I Don t think the cause i essentially the Money. It s something More but hard to put your Finger  Money though plays the main part in creating ill feeling. There s a brother who lost a child and another who did to and they won t speak to each other. They pass one an other on the streets without any recognition. It s really  Don t want Money myself Bates proclaims. I m Happy As i am with out it. I did t lose any of my family. But i wish that the fund organizers had put some thought into How the other half would feel the half that did t get anything but suffered just As much maybe not physically but  fifty seven year old George Williams with tousled Grey hair and sparkling Blue eyes  s a great pity he said. All of a sudden we have this enormous sum of Money and no one knows what to do with it despite an organizing committee being set up. Everybody in the Village is arguing about it. And no matter what the organizers do they can t please everybody they never  Davies former Merthyr Tyd Fil mayor is the Man who organized the fund one Day after the tip collapsed. He was overwhelmed by the response fro around the world astounded by the amount of Money which poured in. It really exceeded All expectations he says. There was bound to be Trou ble. A lot of rubbish was talked about Why i did t just hand the Money out Why the hell was i hanging on to  it was t mine to give much As i would have liked to. I was wishing Al the time that i  Davies would like to see Aberfan rehabilitated in any  but it is going to need a lot of care1,a lot of discussion he says. There is no question that we have too much Money Here that it has All got out of hand. This place suffered terribly. Pecan find Many ways to use it  Fry a Bobby could t hold Back tears at mass funeral for victims of slide 116 of whom were children. The stars and stripes saturday october 21, 1967 the stars and stripes Page 13