CAF to Commemorate Memorial Day with Events and Free Admission to Museum

MIDLAND, Texas (May 20, 2003) - The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) and the American Airpower Heritage Museum (AAHM) will present a number of activities and events, including free admission to the museum, to commemorate Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 2003.

The day's events will begin at 8 a.m. with a burrito breakfast at the High Sky Wing hangar, located across the street from CAF Headquarters. The breakfast will continue until 9:30 a.m. with a number of aircraft available for viewing at the High Sky Wing. A hamburger cookout will follow at 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the High Sky Wing. At noon, the CAF will present a Memorial Day flag ceremony in the CAF's Memorial Garden and a missing man fly over . Special guests for this program include World War II veterans, the Reverand Allen Whitman and Reynaldo Gallardo, a member of the 201st Fighter Squadron in the Mexican Air Force.

Following the flag ceremony, a special seminar presentation, "The Story of the Aztec Eagles," will be presented in the main hangar at the CAF. Gallardo will speak about his experiences in the 201st Fighter Squadron in the Mexican Air Force, the only aviation combat unit from Mexico to actively participate in World War II. On display at the seminar will be a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt - the type of airplane flown by the 201st in combat over the Phillippine Islands in 1945. (Please see page two for a brief history of the Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron.)

The museum will be open at 9 a.m. with free admission until 5 p.m. Major sponsors that made free admission to the museum possible include Bank of America, Warren Equipment Company, Earle Craig, Dr. Terry Tubb and the Ramada Inn Midland Airport.

The 2003 "Remembrance of War" Seminar Series is sponsored in part by the Midland Reporter-Telegram. For more information please contact Tami O'Bannion (432) 563-1000.

History of the Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron

In June of 1942 Mexico formally declared war against the Axis countries. In an effort to help Mexico join the war, special legislation was passed by the United States that allowed resident aliens from Mexico to enlist in U.S. armed forces. Ultimately 250,000 Mexican nationals were inducted into the U.S. forces, with nearly 14,000 seeing combat and more than 1,000 killed in action.

In addition to the Mexican nationals that were enlisted, Mexico also contributed a unit of elite Mexican aviators, which included 55 pilots and officers and nearly 250 enlisted men. They received training at Mexico's Balbuena Field as well as Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas. From there they were dispatched to various bases for advanced training. On Jan. 1, 1945, the unit officially became known as the 201st Fighter Squadron.

On April 30, 1945, the 201st arrived at Manila in the Philippine Islands. At that time, Allied Forces had recaptured Manila and were fighting to regain the rest of the Philippine Islands. Although the group was formally attached to the 58th Fighter Group of the U.S. Fifth Air Force, they remained an independent Mexican force equipped with P-47D Thunderbolts flying nearly 100 ground support and reconnaissance missions in the Philippines. Awards received by the 201st from the United States included the U.S. Legion of Merit, U.S. Air Medal, Philippines Presidential Unit Citation and the Liberation of the Philippines Medal.

-30-