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.