ILLINOIS REGISTER 10090
09
PROCLAMATIONS
2009-210
Captain Emilio Carranza Day
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza of Mexico was a Goodwill Ambassador to the United
States and flew the first non-stop flight from the Capital of Mexico, Mexico City,
to the Capital of the United States, Washington D.C., in 1928; and
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza also made a historic flight from Mexico to Chicago,
Illinois in 1926 to purchase the biplane "Lincoln Standard," which was known to
be the best of that era; and
WHEREAS, in May of 1928, Captain Emilio Carranza made the third longest non-stop flight at
the time from San Diego, California to Mexico City, Mexico with his new plane
"Excelsior," an identical twin of Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis"; and
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza became great friends with Charles Lindbergh and is
known as the "Charles Lindbergh of Mexico"; and
WHEREAS, in the summer of 1928, Captain Emilio Carranza was selected to undertake a
goodwill flight from Mexico City to New York City in response to the previous
year's flight from New York City to Mexico City undertaken by Charles
Lindbergh; and
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza landed safely at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, and
was honored in New York City by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover and
New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker; and
WHEREAS, while returning home to Mexico from his historic flight, Captain Emilio Carranza
encountered a thunderstorm and died at the age of 22 on July 12, 1928, as a result
of a crash in bad weather over the Pine Barrens near Mount Holly, New Jersey;
and
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza became a national hero and was mourned by tens of
thousands in Mexico at his funeral; and
WHEREAS, Captain Emilio Carranza's mission of good will and peace is still celebrated today
by members of the American Legion Post 11 of Mount Holly, New Jersey, whose
brethren found Captain Carranza's body in the woods of the Pine Barrens in 1928;
and
