I used to swim at Long Beach, California.

It was about 40 miles from Pomona (my home town) to the beach at Long Beach. Getting over those forty miles offered many routes. This map indicates the main route, but I remember many trips through Brea Canyon and Brea. I went there from the early thirties to when I went into the Army in 1943. I will always remember one trip home from Long Beach. A friend and I were driving through Compton when we noticed newsboys selling papers on the corners. FLASH! THE JAPS HAVE BOMBED PEARL HARBOR.

The huge Roller Coaster was an impressive sight. I do not remember riding it but I can remember walking under it on the sand. The Coaster was made of wood and would really creak and groan when the cars went by. I remember sailors walking with pretty girls under the Roller Coaster.

Below is a view of the Pike. This is where you threw balls at stacks of milk bottles. This was the Disneyland of my youth.

It is all gone now and has been replaced by fancy hotels and municipal buildings. I have heard rumors of plans to rebuild the Roller Coaster.