From the August 14, 2012, California Tribune "James Dean's death: Former CHP officer who investigated crash dies" by Jay Thompson.
Ron Nelson, a Pearl Harbor survivor, was assigned to the USS Vestal, a repair ship moored next to the USS Arizona that horrific day, died August 7th.
He was born in 1918 in North Dakota and enlisted in the US Navy in 1938. Fortunately for him, he was not on the Vestal when the attack came, but playing tennis ashore, but even so, he got strafed.
After the war, he joined the California Highway Patrol in 191952 and later transferred to CHPs.
In 1955, there were 26 deaths in his patrol area, but the most famous was Sept. 30th, whenhe and CHP officer Ernie Tripke were dispatched to the junction of highways 41 and 466 where a Ford sedan had collided with James Dean's westbound Porsche Spyder.
He made one of the most famous accident reports in history and his photos became famous, but he received very little recognition for them.
An Interesting Life. Perhaps a Movie? --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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