Vandals Had Defaced Monument To "Mexico's Lindbergh"

Perhaps the racial slurs were meant to divide a Philadelphia suburb. Instead, the horrible words scrawled across a monument to Mexican aviator Emilio Carranza served only to unite the small town of Tabernacle (NJ).

Saturday, some 200 people attended an annual memorial service for Carranza, considered by some to be "Mexico's Lindbergh." There was no sign of the racial slurs that had been spray-painted on the monument, no trace of the racial hatred that those words conveyed. Instead, there were only promises to foster the goodwill Carranza promoted between Mexico and the US.

Carranza was, in fact, Charles Lindbergh's friend. On July 13, 1928, he departed from New York City during a severe thunderstorm, intent on flying his "Mexico Excelsior" to Mexico City. The aircraft was a Ryan B1, a replica of the plane Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic. It was to be the longest flight ever made by a Mexican national and the second longest flight ever attempted, behind Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing.

The Mexico Excelsior had no navigational instruments. Instead, Carranza had among his personal belongings a compass, a map and a flashlight. Already, he had made a one-stop flight from Mexico City to Washington (DC).

He never made it home.

Instead, a young boy picking blueberries on Sandy Ridge in Tabernacle found the wreckage of Carranza's aircraft. His body was discovered a short time later. In his hand was the flashlight he brought along on the flight, as if he were looking for a place to set down in the inclement weather.

Why risk such a flight? In the Mexican Army Captain's pocket was a telegram from his superior officer: "Leave immediately, without excuse or pretext, or the quality of your manhood will be in doubt."

Every year since then, American Legion Post 11, whose members recovered Carranza's body, have held a memorial service in his honor.

At Saturday's ceremony, attendees promised to refurbish the monument. They were surprised to hear that an 18-year old man, Albert Boyson, had been arrested and charged with defacing the monument back in May.

"We must not let xenophobia, racism and vandalism stand between the ties of our two great nations," said Arturo Sarvkhan, a representative from the Mexican consulate in New York. He was quoted in the Burlington County Times.

FMI: www.post11.org/carranza