On, Saturday, July 12, the 75th memorial of Emilio Carranza took place, spearheaded by American Legion Post #11 of Mount Holly, New Jersey. Post#11 found Emilio's lifeless body the day his plane was struck by lightning. He was just 22-and-a-half years old, but a hero standing tall among heroes.
The wilderness of New Jersey's Pinelands might seem the most unlikely site for a memorial to a Mexican hero, but there it is, standing 12 feet high in a forest clearing, flanked by majestic pines. Why such a remote location? And to whom is the memorial dedicated?
The history dates back to July 1928, a year after Charles Lindbergh's historic flight. Upon returning from Paris, Lindbergh made a goodwill flight from New York to Mexico City where he was warmly received. To reciprocate, the Mexican government sponsored a dashing young pilot, Captain Emilio Carranza, to fly from Mexico City to Washington and to New York City.
Following Lindy's transatlantic flight, Americans had become captivated by aviation--especially international flights--so they greeted Captain Carranza with a hero's welcome. He posed for photographs with President Calvin Coolidge and was given a triumphant parade in New York where he met with Lindbergh.
He was hailed in the press as "Mexico's Lindy", and indeed, his monoplane, "Mexico Excelsior," was the exact duplicate of Lindbergh's,"Spirit of St. Louis."
However, Carranza's attempt to complete his friendship flight from New York back to Mexico City was delayed several days because of stormy weather conditions. Finally, on the evening of July 13, during a lull in the weather, he took off from New York's Roosevelt Field. Roughly an hour later, over a desolate area of New Jersey's pine barrens, his plane was struck by lightning and the brave captain perished in the ensuing crash.
The next day, the wreckage was discovered by local farm workers. It was theorized that he had flown off course and was looking for a place to set down when the plane was hit. A group from the American Legion post in the nearby town of Mt. Holly hiked over 20 miles through the isolated forest to retrieve the body.
The news of Carranza's death was announced in headlines across the U.S. and Mexico, and as his body lay in state in New York, he was eulogized by Lindbergh, who said, "The loss of Captain Carranza is shared equally on both sides of the Rio Grande. His life was dedicated to his country, his death to the world."
The U.S. government offered the battleship Florida to return the remains to Mexico, but instead, it was decided to take the body by train through the United States where crowds from cities and towns along the route turned out to pay a tribute to the "Fallen Eagle." When the funeral train arrived in Mexico late in July, Captain Carranza was posthumously promoted to the rank of General.
Shortly after, it was decided to mark the site of the crash in the U.S. School children throughout Mexico raised money for a monument. The memorial now stands in New Jersey's Wharton State Forest at the spot where the "Mexico Excelsior" fell, just off the newly-named "Carranza Road."
Here in Mexico, a bronze burst of Carranza is on display at Mexico City's International Airport, along with those of other important figures in Mexican aviation history.
Emilio's cousins, Carmen and Ektor Carranza, live here at Lakeside.
