World War II: Mexican Air Force Helped Liberate the Philippines

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On July 16, Lieutenant Espinosa Galvan, flying in foul weather, ran out of gas just short of Biak and was forced to ditch. His plane sank, and he apparently did not get out. Three days later two pilots — Captain Pablo Rivas Martinez and wingman Lieutenant Guillermo Garcia Ramos — flew into a thunderstorm and became separated. Garcia bailed out over a Japanese-held island and was saved in a dramatic rescue by an Australian Consolidated PBY crew. Rivas was never found. On July 21, Lieutenant Mario Lopez Portillo took off from Biak with an American pilot. They made it to Luzon before hitting stormy weather. Flying on instruments, they made a navigational error and crashed into a mountain.

On August 8 the Aztec Eagles returned to Formosa on a bombing mission led by Lieutenant Amadeo Castro Almaza. Crossing the sea at altitude, they dropped to the water near the island to evade enemy radar. Each pilot had his hands full, balancing a 1,000-pound bomb under the right wing with the near-empty external fuel tank under the left. Over the target, a cluster of buildings near the port of Karenko, they attacked. As Lieutenant Castro dropped his bomb, his P-47 lurched violently, due to the sudden loss of equilibrium, slamming him around the cockpit. Recovering, the shaken lieutenant radioed his companions to warn them. Their mission completed, the pilots landed at alternate airfields.

Two days later, the squadron flew its final mission, escorting a U.S. Navy convoy bound for Okinawa. Intelligence had concerns that Japanese suicide planes based on Formosa might attack the ships. The 201st provided air cover in shifts for a 12-hour period until they were relieved by USAAF Northrop P-61 Black Widows at dusk.

On the night of August 26, the men were watching a movie when Captain Gaziola suddenly ordered the film stopped. He announced that Fifth Air Force headquarters had received a message that an atom bomb had been dropped and Japan had surrendered. Later the report was verified, and the men celebrated with the traditional ‘grito’ shout of joy.

Fifty-eight years have passed since the FAEM came home from the war in the Philippines. Its men paraded victoriously into Mexico City’s national square on a sunny day in November 1945, presented their battle flag and heard President Avila Camacho, speaking to the crowd and to the nation by radio. His voice echoing over a sea of cheering people, the president said: ‘General, chiefs, officers and troops of the Expeditionary Air Force, I receive with emotion the Flag that the country has conferred…as a symbol of her and those ideas of humanity for which we fight in a common cause. … You return with glory, having complied brilliantly with your duty and, in these moments, in this historic Plaza, you receive the gratitude of our people.’

The young pilots who flew and fought with their Yankee counterparts are now gray-haired grandfathers, enjoying retirement. The P-47s with bright Mexican tricolor markings and U.S. star-and-bar insignia they flew so proudly have long ago been scrapped. The battle flag they carried rests in a place of honor in the National History Museum.

Five of those pilots became FAM generals; others went on to distinguished careers in aviation, business and academia. In reminiscing about their WWII experiences, they often mention the satisfaction they feel in having represented their country to help defeat a global threat. Above all, however, when they get together today they remember their fallen comrades. The FAEM helped end Mexican isolationism. It paved the way for important accords between Mexico and the United States and demonstrated that Mexico was capable of mounting an expeditionary force in a successful partnership, achieving good results at reasonable cost. It also helped modernize the FAM.

Significant as these accomplishments are, perhaps the unit’s most meaningful legacy is the improved understanding and cooperation it fostered between the American and Mexican peoples and the national and cultural pride the Aztec Eagles brought to their country. Those have proved to be enduring benefits.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Aerial Combat, Air Sea, Aviation History, Historical Conflicts, World War II

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