Emilio Carranza
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Captain Emilio Carranza Rodriguez (1905-July 13, 1928) was a noted Mexican aviator and national hero, nicknamed the "Lindbergh of Mexico". He was killed while returning from a historic goodwill flight from Mexico City to the United States.
He was the great-nephew of President Venustiano Carranza of Mexico and the nephew of famed Mexican aviator Alberto Salinas Carranza. At age 18, he became a national hero when he strafed Yaqui Indians in Sonora while helping to put down the De la Huerta Rebellion. While in Sonora, he crashed and his face had to be reassembled with platinum screws. At age 22, on May 24-25, 1928, he set the record for the third longest non-stop solo flight by flying 1,875 miles (3000 km) from San Diego, California to Mexico City in 18.5 h.
In the summer of 1928, he was selected to undertake a goodwill flight from Mexico City to New York City in response to the previous year's flight from New York City to Mexico City undertaken by Charles Lindbergh. He landed at Roosevelt Field on Long Island and was honored in New York City by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover and New York City major Jimmy Walker. While flying back from Long Island, he encountered a thunderstorm over the Pinelands of southern New Jersey and crashed on July 12. His body was recovered the following day.
A 12 ft (3.6 m) monument in the Wharton State Forest in Burlington County, New Jersey marks the site of his crash. The monument, installed with funds donated by Mexican schoolchildren, depicts a falling eagle of Aztec design. Each July near the anniversary of his death he is honored at the monument site by members of the American Legion accompanied by an entourage from the Mexican consulate in New York City.
External links
- Emilio Carranza (http://www.earlyaviators.com/ecarranz.htm)
- Roadside America: Carranza Monument (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NJTABcarranza.html)