Remembering the Aztec Eagles

Late in the war, the Mexican government learned that the Japanese had devised a plan to invade the US via the Sea of Cortez. President Manuel Avila Camacho, a former soldier himself, made the decision to commit the nation’s 201st Fighter Squadron in support of the Allied war effort. Mexico and Brazil were the only Latin American countries to fight against the Axis powers.

The squadron was initially trained in Texas by the US Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). After the WASPs completed their training program, the Mexican fighter squadron shipped out to Idaho for advanced training. Here the squadron received the powerful Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt was designed as a fighter, but it also had the power to carry bombs under its wings. Armed with .50-caliber machine guns, the fighter was a flying tank capable of providing close air and bomb delivery support.

The American counteroffensive in the Pacific began to pay dividends, though at a staggering cost of lives. US Army and Marine amphibious invasions stopped and prevented Japanese expansion and then slowly took back control of the islands extending to the Philippines.

From islands like Guam, Tinian and the Philippines, the Allies were within bombing range of the Japanese homeland. Arriving in the Philippines aboard the USS Fairisle on April 30, 1945, the 201st was assigned to the US Fifth Air Force. It soon flew into action and history.

The city of Vigan, on the west coast of Luzon Island, was a Japanese stronghold with dug-in defenses. The Mexican pilots executed dangerous dive-bombing runs close to the mountains. The 201st got the job done to the amazement of the Americans who nicknamed the Mexicans the “White Noses” for the paint on their cowlings.

The 201st continued to attack Japanese positions in the Philippines day after day. Losses of men and equipment mounted. The air campaign shifted northward to the Japanese territory known as Formosa, now Taiwan. The 201st flew daily delivering one-thousand pound bombs.

From Guam, US bombers flew directly over Japan. Despite losses, the 201st never received any replacements, men or aircraft. When US fighter squadrons relocated from the Philippines to Okinawa, the 201st remained behind as it was rated nearly combat ineffective.

WWII ended with the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Because of its contribution to the war effort, Mexico received one of the first rotating seats on the United Nations Security Council alongside the permanent members — US, UK, France, Soviet Union and China.

The Mexican military received financial aid from the US during the post war years. The CIA established its largest field office in the Western Hemisphere in Mexico City during the Cold War years. As for the Aztec Eagles, the squadron flew into Latin American history by playing a role in building the bridge between our two nations.