Plaques were located at the Hebert Memorial Park, 2701 Basswood Ave, North Las Vegas, Nevada on the grounds of Lincoln-Edison Elementary School

Note: The Park has been replaced by a new Lincoln Elementary School building.
Dedicated in memory of First Lieutenant Raynor L. Hebert

On May 13, 1964, First Lieutenant Raynor L. Hebert, a student pilot at Nellis Air Force Base, sacrificed his life in order to spare the lives of hundreds of children in Lincoln School. Lieutenant Herbert chose to ride his plane down in an attempt to guide the crippled aircraft into an uninhabited area rather than ejecting at a safe altitude.

Unfortunately four persons died with him in the resultant tragedy, however many more would have perished had he not diverted his jet fighter his untimely death remains a monument to the self-sacrifice of our U.S. Air Force Airmen.

Encomium

The Port Arthur City Council on behalf of the Citizenry of the City of Port Arthur, Texas pays tribute to one of its native sons, First Lieutenant Raynor L. Hebert of the United States Air Force, For his courageous action on the 13th day of May, A.D., 1964, when he gallantly guided his disabled plane to a crash landing, thereby giving of his life that the lives of many others be saved, done this 16 day of March, A.D., 1966.
~
Raynor Lee Hebert - Medal
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas, Nevada
August 8, 1964 (Saturday), Page 3
GenealogyBank.com (transcribed by: Rob Gomoluh)

NLV Plane Crash Pilot Gets Medal – WASHINGTON – The Air Force has approved a posthumous award to the pilot of a jet-fighter which crashed at Las Vegas last May for his skill in avoiding a school house full of children. Secretary Eugene M. Zuckert Friday advised Nevada Sen. Howard W. Cannon that the Airman's medal will go to the parents of the late 1st. Lt. Raynor L. Hebert. He was stationed at Nellis AFB from which he took off on his ill-fated flight. Supporting the award was the Nevada chapter of the Federal Bar Association which contracted top officials at the Defense Department here. A Cannon aide said the Air Force Decoration will be for Hebert's efforts in "avoiding a school full of children, staying with his plan, and directing it to a less populated area."
~
Raynor Lee Herbert – Accident
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas, Nevada
May 14, 1964 (Thursday), Page 1, Column 7
GenealogyBank.com (transcribed by: Rob Gomoluh)
Note: The following article is only one of many, many stories written and published in numerous Newspapers nationally.

North Vegas Area Ripped by Plane – by Don Beale – R-J Staff Writer
An F-105D Air Force fighter plane, loaded with live rounds of .20 Millimeter ammunition and wing rockets, crashed into a newly developed residential area in North Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon, killing at least seven persons. The crash totally destroyed eight or nine homes and strewed wreckage over a half mile area. The pilot apparently lost power seconds after takeoff from Nellis Air Force Base. He lost control of the craft, and plummeted into the new subdivision. The subdivision, called Woodland North, is located off the Salt Lake Highway. The homes that were destroyed were in an area bounded by Lenwood Avenue, Salt Lake Avenue and Oakwood Street. All available units from the Clark County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the scene to assist North Las Vegas Police. At press time last night, the official death toll was at seven including the pilot. North Las Vegas Police Chief Nick Janise identified some of the dead as Betty LeDane, 31, 2101 Lenwood Avenue, her three year old daughter, Theresa, and another infant and the pilot. She was the dispatcher for the NLV Police Department, and tears welled in Janise's eyes as he identified her. "Oh, my God," he said. The pilot was identified as 1st Lt. Raynor L. Hebert, 26, Port Arthur, Tex. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Curtis L Herbert, same city. All the Air Force would say was that the pilot knew he was in trouble. "He (the pilot) stayed with the airplane and tried to ride it over the residential area." A spokesman said the pilot called the Nellis tower and reported that he "couldn't get off the ground." Most of the homes, in the $18,000 to 21,000 bracket, were unoccupied. Mrs. LeDane was reportedly in the house with the children. A landing gear from the $3 ½ million aircraft was in the back yard. Despite efforts of North Las Vegas firemen and available units from Nellis, the home, along with six or seven other, were razed. The three other victims were not immediately identified. Officers from Nellis, sheriff's offers, firemen and county rescue units were sifting through the debris in an attempt to lock at any additional bodies. One of the rockets from the downed craft was found in garage at 2903 Salt Lake Ave. One of the machine guns was found in the backyard of home to the rear of one that was destroyed. The pilot was lying in the midst of charred wreckage in the rear of a home at 2933 Salt Lake Ave. In the carport of a home was the huge jet engine. It flattened an early model automobile. About two hours after the crash a heavy crane from the air base was enroute to lift the engine in an attempt to see if any victims were in the car at the time of the accident. The engine and other major portions of the aircraft lay in the carport and portions of what was left of the house. It apparently was unoccupied. Over 1,000 spectators jammed the crash area. Law enforcement and Nellis officials had to finally rope off the area to keep spectators back. At one point firemen found a severed natural gas line and summoned emergency help. Sheriff's deputies rushed to the milling crowd and ordered them back for fear of explosion. There was none. Service men from the Southwest Gas Company rushed an emergency crew to the area and they had the situation under control within a matter of minutes. The aircraft began its path of destruction on the northern edge of Oakwood Street. The plan sheared off several air conditioning units about a block from where it plunged into a home on Lenwood Avenue. It sheared off a telephone pole and it javelined across the street and pierced though a house on Oakwood Street. The first major impact of the plane wiped out a home 2102 Lenwood. the house next door, to the south, was the one which Mrs. LeDane occupied. Wreckage from the jet aircraft bounced from these two homes across Salt Lake Avenue, exploding into three other homes, apparently throwing the pilot into the backyard. Austin Beuler (spelling ?), a native of Las Vegas who was at the scene for fear that his sister was one of the victims, said he couldn't recall an air-to-ground disaster "of his magnitude in the history of the county." Sheriff Ralph Lamb and his captain, Ray Gubser, said this, "this is the worst we have ever had" in reference to air-to-ground crashes. Nellis airmen roped off a four to five block area and stood guard with carbine rifles surrounding the area. Preparations for floodlights were being made to keep the area well lighted during the night, Nellis guards were also assigned to watch the (not readable) the night. Notificatin of residents in the area was carried out by Civil Defense Director Vernon Munsell, while NLV city hall receives (article continues on Page 2, column 6) incoming calls of anxious residents, Millie relayed all radio calls to city cars and trucks of the street and engineering departments which were at the scene. When the dead had been taken from their fire gutted homes, and the homeless settle for the night. Taylor returned to city hall. His shirt, smudged by charred wood and dirty water, was a reminder of the calamity that struck the new subdivision of Woodlawn North. "THIS IS the worst tragedy that every happened here," he said.
~
Unfortunately four persons died with him in the tragedy:
Betty Lou LEWIS LeDane (findagrave.com 214410170)
Theresa Lynn DEDANE (findagrave. com 214410237)
Derwent Robert LOWERY (findagrave.com 153553796)
Laurie Lee LOWERY (findagrave.com 153553757)