Last 'Aztec Eagle' Passes at 98...
Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 1:29 pm
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/nati ... D=ref_fark
The Mexican Air Force's 201 Squadron flew alongside the USAAF in the Philippines in US-supplied P-47s. Their birds carried a variety of markings; this seems to have been the most common variant:
By all accounts they acquitted themselves honorably and well. Adios, hermano.
Mike
....Respect.Mexico's Last World War II Veteran Dies at Age 98
The last veteran of Mexico’s relatively small contingent of World War II veterans has died, Mexico’s Defense Department announced Thursday.
The department said former Sgt. Horacio Castilleja Albarrán was 98 when he died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
Castilleja Albarrán was one of about 300 Mexican soldiers and airmen in Squadron 201, known as the Aztec Eagles, who were sent from Mexico to help in the U.S. war effort against Japan.
The aircraft squadron fought alongside the U.S. Army Air Forces in the Philippines in 1945. Mexico was late to enter World War II, but declared war after German submarines sank several Mexican oil tankers.
Castilleja Albarrán joined the army in 1942 at age 18 and was trained as a radio operator. He was long retired from the service.
He was given a funeral with military honors.
The Mexican Air Force's 201 Squadron flew alongside the USAAF in the Philippines in US-supplied P-47s. Their birds carried a variety of markings; this seems to have been the most common variant:
By all accounts they acquitted themselves honorably and well. Adios, hermano.
Mike