Guest Column
Mexico’s Aztec Eagles fought alongside U.S. in World War II
- Mexico’s Aztec Eagles fought alongside U.S. in World War II
- By Joe Olvera
It’s gratifying to see so many Mexicans joining the U.S. military, willing to join the war in Iraq, fighting heroically, then opting for U.S. citizenship because the military is making it easy for our men and women in combat to become U.S. citizens. So, for those who may think that Mexico is not aiding us in the war on global terrorism – think again.
But, see, it’s always been this way. Mexicans have always been courageous, heroic, and willing to take the hard knocks of war to a higher plane. Even during the U.S.-Mexico War that ended in 1848, the Mexican military cadets known as Los Ninos Heroes fought the invading U.S. forces almost to a standstill at Chapultepec Castle, just outside Mexico City.
These six heroes – honored throughout Mexico and in the United States – preferred death to surrendering to the enemy. One cadet even wrapped himself in the Mexican Flag and jumped to his death so that the Flag would not be captured. They were all young, ages 13 to 19, and they were training to become officers in the Mexican Army. Even Harry Truman honored these young heroes by visiting their Memorial Monument.
It happened like this: On March 5, 1947, U.S. President Harry S. Truman was on the next to last day of a three-day trip to Mexico. Truman told his staff that he wanted to make a stop at Chapultepec Castle to pay homage. He laid a wreath on the monument and stood in silent reverence. Truman said that he honored the cadets because: “Brave men do not belong to any one country. I respect bravery whenever I see it.”
Fortunately, not much has changed today, as more and more Mexican teenagers, who may be in the U.S. as legal residents, have opted to join our fighting forces in Iraq and other dangerous battlegrounds. They are risking their lives so that they can help the U.S. remain free, and, in effect, help Mexico remain a bastion of freedom, and a symbol of Democracy among Spanish-speaking nations.
It was no different during World War II – the big one, as Archie Bunker of All in the Family fame used to say – when more than 300 Mexicans volunteered to help the United States fight the Japanese in the Pacific. Known as the Aztec Eagles, the Escuadron 201 (Squadron 201) was comprised of 300 volunteers – 36 of them were experienced pilots, and the rest were ground crewmen.
These ground troopers were electricians, radiomen, and armament – all the specialties that are required for a typical fighter squadron. Assigned to the U.S. Army Air Force’s 58th Fighter Group, these Mexican heroes helped in the liberation of the main Philippine Island of Luzon in the summer of 1945. The pilots flew P-47D Thunderbolt single-seat fighter aircraft carrying out tactical air support missions.
Of the 300 men, only10 are still living. This includes Colonel Carlos Garduno and Captain Miguel Moreno, and ground crewman former Captain Manuel Cervantes Ramos. Of the ten survivors, only these three gentlemen were able to make the trip to Anaheim last year, where they were honored for their contributions to the U.S. war effort.
“We flew air support missions for U.S. and Filipino infantry troops on the ground,” Garduno recalled. “We had to hit precisely where we saw a smoke bomb go off. Or else, we would have killed our own troops with friendly fire. The problem was that the distance between the enemy and our own troops was only about 300 yards.”
The Aztec Eagles left Mexico on July 24, 1944, arriving in Laredo, Texas on July 25. They immediately were taken to Randolph Field in San Antonio, where they received indoctrination. They trained for five months at Majors Field in Greenville, Texas, Pocatello, Idaho Army Air Base, Foster field in Victoria, Texas and Randolph. The pilots received extensive training in armament, communications or engineering, combat tactics, formation flying, and gunnery.
Altogether these Mexican volunteers flew 59 combat missions, totaling more than 1,290 hours of combat flight time. Garduno remembers that at the time Mexico still harbored tremendous resentment towards the U.S. because of the invasion during the war between the U.S. and Mexico – a war which many historians still label as illegal. The war, which ended in1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, resulted in Mexico losing all of its territories, more than one million square miles that comprise the southwestern United States today.
“Almost 90 percent of Mexico’s people were against cooperating with the United States during World War II,” Garduno said. “Finally, against its own feelings, Mexico joined the fray. It took the sinking of two Mexican oil takers in the Gulf of Mexico by German U-boats for the Mexican Congress to accept a declaration of war on the Axis.”
Now, the good news. My good friend, Alfredo Lugo – a California filmmaker who once did a documentary on the famous Men from Company E – says that efforts are being made to bring the exploits of the Aztec Eagles to the attention of the American and Mexican public by producing a movie about their exploits. “We have all met the pilots and some ground crew members at one time or another,” Lugo told me. “Hope they get the funding and it is nice to see that Latinos are involved.”
In order to make a movie, however, more money is needed – an item that is in short supply these days. Lugo said tat Betty Kaplan, who wrote Love and Shadows, Dona Barbara and Almost a Woman has been tapped by producer Bill Bonanno to write and direct “The Aztec Eagles,” the story about the only Mexican Air Force unit to serve during World Wear II. Although the production group is still raising money to produce the miniseries, plans are to film in Mexico, Texas and the Philippines.
“Thirty one of us Mexican pilots went to war,” said Garduno, who flew 26 combat missions and served more than 37 years in the Mexican Air Force. “At first, there were 38 of us pilots. But, two were killed in training and the others didn’t make the grade, they didn’t qualify.”
Garduno says that he is proud that he was part of this group – about which not too much is known. “Despite the fact that we were from Mexico, we believed in what the U.S. was doing. We were trying to get three more squadrons so that we would have a whole group of Mexican Air Force combat pilots in the war. I joined the squadron of Aztec Eagles because, as a professional military man, I was dedicated to serving my country, which had declared war against the Axis. Professional men have to accept the call to duty.”
- So, there you have it. Bet you had never heard about the Men from Squadron 201- aka The Aztec Eagles – had you? Well, now you have. If the movie is ever made, many more people will know that Mexico has not only been a friend to the United States, despite both nations’ past histories, but has even shared in maintaining both nations’ precious freedoms.
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- Joe Olvera can be reached at: jolvera@aliviane.org
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