james schoenfeld who kidnapped 26 children and their school bus driver in chowchilla nearly 40 years ago was granted parole on wednesday .
schoenfeld , 24 at the time , his brother , richard , and a friend , fred woods , were convicted of the 1976 caper .
the kidnappers were inspired by the 1971 film clint eastwood film dirty harry in which the antagonist kidnaps a school bus for ransom .
they kept the children ` buried alive ' in trailer that had been buried into a hillside while they negotiated a ransom .
parole date has not yet been set and the decision could take months .