Venustiano Carranza III remembers his great uncle, Capt. Emilio Carranza, before the 97th annual memorial service honoring the Mexican pilot who died in a 1928 Pine Barrens crash.
During the early days of aviation, Capt. Emilio Carranza was a young, dashing Mexico Air Corps pilot who flew to the U.S. to reciprocate for aviator Charles Lindbergh’s goodwill trip to Mexico City, improving the relationship between the two nations.
Carranza was welcomed with open arms by Americans and was getting ready to return home on a non-stop flight from New York City – quite a distance in the early 20t century – when severe storms on July 12, 1928, caused the cancellation of his flight. Later that evening, he received an order to return to Mexico immediately and took off, flying south over New Jersey.
But Carranza flew into a menacing and powerful lightning storm while approaching Tabernacle that caused his plane to crash in the Pine Barrens. Members of Mount Holly American Legion Post 11 found his remains in the Wharton State Forest.
“We are honoring a fallen hero who was born and raised in Mexico,” said Luis Gaxiola-Baquerio, co-acting chairman of the 2024 Capt. Emilio Carranza Memorial Service, sponsored by Post 11 and held at the pilot’s monument on July 13 in Tabernacle with nearly 100 people in attendance. We want to continue to maintain the tradition of honoring him.
“Our next goal is the restoration of the monument,” added Gaxiola-Baquerio, noting that the Legion post is always looking for new members to continue honoring Carranza annually in the years to come. “We would like to find a stone worker or an expert restorer.”
Another goal is to have Mount Holly team with Ramos Arizpe, Carranza’s hometown, and become international sister cities.
Gaxiola-Baquerio noted that special guests attending the 97th annual memorial service included Venustiano Carranza III, eldest grandson of former Mexican president and revolutionary leader Venustiano Carranza, and the great uncle of Emilio Carranza.
Gaxiola-Baquerio recounted the events after Carranza’s doomed flight.
“When news of found aircraft wreckage reached the county sheriff, Mount Holly post (11) was quickly mobilized and set out on the 25-mile trek to search and recover the pilot’s body,” he explained. “A path had to be cut through the dense underbrush in order to carry Capt. Carranza’s body out. The wreckage of the plane was strewn over many acres of the desolate Pine Barrens.
“When post 11 returned to Mount Holly, American Legion members mounted a guard of honor around the body that was later joined by members of the U.S. Army and the New Jersey state police,” Gaxiola-Baquerio added. “They formed a circle around the body, a ring of honor, until the remains were handed over to representatives of the Consulate General of New York.
“A detail of post Legionnaires accompanied the body on the long railroad trip to Mexico City for the funeral.”
When Carranza’s casket left Mount Holly for the final journey to Mexico City, it was draped with a United States flag from Mount Holly post 11 that still hangs today in Mexico’s School of Aviation.
The first memorial service to honor Carranza was held on May 30, 1929. After that, Legion members made a solemn promise to conduct a pilgrimage each year to the scene of the crash and pay honor to the pilot’s memory.
In 1930, school children in Mexico City donated pennies to fund a monument built with stones quarried near Carranza’s home that were cut and fitted before being sent to New Jersey. The monument was erected in 1933 and assembled by members of post 11 on the exact site where the young captain’s body was found.
A dirt road was cut through the forest a year later to allow access to the monument, and in 1936, the first official memorial took place at the site, now accessible by automobile. Rain or shine, American Legion Post 11 has honored Carranza every year since 1928, and Gaxiola-Baquerio hopes the annual event continues for generations to come.
He also looks forward to the 100th anniversary service for the doomed flight in 2028, when the monument will be fully restored and Mount Holly will hopefully be the sister city of Ramos Arizpe.
For information or to help with the monument restoration, call the post home at (609) 261-3295 and ask for Gaxiola-Baquerio.
