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History Of Hispanic Pilots | |||||||||||||||||
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By Tony (The Marine) Santiago |
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Second Lieutenant César Luis González (June 10, 1919 -
November 22, 1943) was an officer in the United States
Army Air Forces during World War II. Gonzalez was the
first Puerto Rican pilot in the United States Army Air
Force and the first Puerto Rican pilot to die in World
War II. His name is listed on the "Roll of Honor" of the
314th Troop Carrier Group World War II and both, his
hometown and the Capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan,
honored his memory by naming a street after him. Early years - González (birth name: César Luis González Cardona) was born to Felix Gonzalez and Augusta Cardona in the town of Adjuntas which is located in the mid-western section of Puerto Rico. He was one of five siblings who were raised in the family farm. González received his primary and secondary education at Escuela Secundaria Armstrong and Ponce High School in the town of Ponce.
His uncle wanted him to study engineering at the
University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, however he
decided that he would prefer to become an aviator.
González saved the money which he earned while working
with his uncle with the intention of going to an
aviation school in California. |
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Second Lieutenant César Luis González | ||||||
González made use of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a federal program which came about with the approval of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. The CPTP used the classrooms of the California Flyers School of Aviation at Inglewood, California, which was supported by government funds and which provided a pool of young civilian pilots who could be available for military service if war came. Executive Order 8974, which was signed on December 12, 1941, transferred the CPTP into a wartime program under the War Training Service (WTS). All WTS graduates were now required to sign a contract agreeing to enter the military following graduation.
The 12th Air Force was established in the United States during World War II to be the Army Air Forces air component of Operation Torch. In 1942, the 12th Air Force initially moved to England for training. On November 1942, it was transferred to Tunisia under the command of Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz. |
The 314th
Transport Group was activated on March 2, 1942 and renamed 314th Troop
Carrier Group in July 1942. The 314th used C-47's and C-53's in
preparing for duty overseas and was moved to French Morocco of the
Mediterranean theater in May 1943 and assigned to the 12th Air Force.
Operating in Tunisia, the 32nd TCS successfully flew its first airborne
assault on Sicily. González was one of the initial participants of the invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943 also known as Operation Husky. He was the co-pilot of a C-53D Skytrain, a.k.a. Dakota, of which Captain Richard B. Ott was the pilot. The C-53D is a variant of the C-47 with the difference that it had a 24 Volt DC electrical system. During the invasion of Sicily, he flew on two night missions, the first on July 9, where his mission was to release paratroops of 82nd Airborne Division on the area of Gela and the second on July 11, when he dropped reinforcements in the area.
His unit was
awarded a "DUC" for carrying out this second mission in spite of bad
weather and heavy attack by enemy ground and naval forces. A "DUC" award
is a "Distinguished Unit Citation" or Badge, which now called the
Presidential Unit Citation (PUC). The Presidential Unit Citation is
awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for
extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy. Several advanced
landing airfields were built by United States Army engineers in the area
around the city of Gela which was used by the 12th Air Force during the
Italian Campaign. Death and legacy - On November 22, 1943, 2nd Lt. González's plane crashed during training, off the end of the runway at Castelvetrano. Capt. Ott and the Crew Chief perished along with González. González was survived by his parents (both now deceased), his brothers Felix Augusto and Hernan González (both now deceased) and his sisters Luz Virginia and Nilda González. González was posthumously promoted to First Lieutenant and on March 18, 1949, González's body was interned with full military honors in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery, Section: A; Row: 0, Site: 175; in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. |
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