201st Fighter Squadron, Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (The Aztec Eagles)

Training ended in February 1945, when the squadron graduated at Majors Field in Greenville and received its battle flag. The pilots reached Manila on April 30, 1945, and flew with the U.S. 58th Fighter Group from Luzon, supporting the 25th Infantry Division and striking Formosa. No replacement pilots had been planned, so each loss hurt, and the Philippine campaign and training accidents cost the squadron several of its fliers. It returned to Mexico City on November 18, 1945, and handed its flag to President Avila Camacho in the Zocalo.

What the plaque says

201st Fighter Squadron, Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (The Aztec Eagles) Following the 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during World War II, the nation of Mexico severed diplomatic relations with the Axis powers (Japan, Germany, Italy). In May 1942, German U-boats sank several of the country's oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a declaration of war against the Axis nations. Following the use of defensive patrols for enemy submarines, Mexico negotiated with the U.S. for the training in Texas of the 201st Fighter Squadron of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force. The unit became known as The Aztec Eagles. Arriving in Laredo in July 1944, the 300 volunteers traveled to Randolph Field, San Antonio, before relocating to Foster Field, Victoria, in August. Training took place here and at nearby auxiliary fields. After graduation in October 1944, the squadron deployed to Pocatello Air Base in Idaho but returned to Texas (Majors Field, Greenville) due to bad weather. The unit later reported to Brownsville for final aerial gunnery practice. Mexico's President Manuel Ávila Camacho pushed for the squadron's deployment to the Pacific, partly for his admiration of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The squadron arrived in the Phillipines in April 1945, joining the U.S. 58th Fighter Group of the Fifth Fighter Command, Fifth Air Force. During its service, the unit conducted many successful attacks on Japanese forces, flying 96 combat missions. The only Mexican military unit to see overseas combat during the war, The Aztec Eagles remain a source of pride for two neighboring nations. Texas in World War II - 2007

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Coastal Bend — 4.2 mi
  Victoria College's museum of thirteen thousand years on the middle Texas coast, from Clovis hunters and Karankawa potters to La Salle's lost Fort St. Louis and the first ranches.
• De León Plaza — 6.0 mi
  The central plaza of Guadalupe Victoria, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, founded by Martín De León in 1824 and taken from his family after 1836.
• Fannin Battleground State Historic Site — 22 mi
  The open prairie east of Goliad where Fannin's retreating column formed a square short of the Coleto Creek timber on March 19, 1836, and surrendered the next day.
• Half Moon Reef Lighthouse and Linnville — 23 mi
  The last screw-pile lighthouse of the Texas coast, brought ashore at Port Lavaca, a town founded by refugees from Linnville, the port Buffalo Hump's Comanches burned in August 1840.

More markers nearby

• Foster Army Air Field — 0.4 mi
• First Presbyterian Church of Victoria — 5.1 mi
• William Robert Smith — 5.5 mi
• Camp Victoria — 5.5 mi