Fausto Vega Santander

Fausto Vega Santander
Fausto Vega Santander
Nickname(s)	Cacho, Cachito
Born	November 19, 1923; Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico
Died	June 1, 1945 (aged 21); Luzon, Philippines
Allegiance	Mexico
Service/branch	Mexican Air Force
Years of service	1940–1945
Rank	Sub-lieutenant
Unit	Escuadrón 201
Battles/wars	World War II South Pacific Theatre; Battle of Luzon;

Fausto Vega Santander (born November 19, 1923 – June 1, 1945) was a Mexican aviator who died in a crash while fighting during World War II.

Fausto Vega Santander was born in Tuxpan, Veracruz; his parents were Albino Vega and María Santander. He received his primary education at Enrique C. Rebsamen School in his hometown.

Military career

In 1940, after graduating from high school, Vega Santander joined the Mexican Air Force. He graduated from the Military Aviation School as a Sub-lieutenant and then served as a special instructor in the aviation school in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 1944.

After Mexico declared war against the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and the Empire of Japan) in May 1942, in March 1945 Mexico sent Sub-lieutenant Fausto Vega Santander's unit, the 201st Fighter Squadron,[1] to the South Pacific Theatre. The squadron was attached to the 58th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the liberation of the main Philippines island of Luzon in the spring of 1945.

On 1 June 1945, Santander crashed during dive bombing practice near Tabones Island, a small islet off Luzon, near Nagsasa Bay on the Redondo Peninsula.[2][3] The USAAF search and rescue team was not able to locate his body. His aircraft, a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt,[4] crashed into the sea at high speed and exploded.

Legacy

Fausto Vega Santander is commemorated on the 201st Fighter Squadron's memorial marker in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park, near the Niños Héroes monument.

The Mexican poet Germán Muriel Azarria, wrote of the young aviator in limericks in the poem entitled "Eaglet fallen."

References

Flores, Santiago A. (2000). "201st Mexican Fighter Squadron". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
"Subteniente P.A. Fausto Vega Santander". Conoce la Sedena / Antecedentes Históricos / Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (in Spanish). Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015. Tuvo el triste honor de ser el Primer Militar Mexicano que falleció en el Teatro de Operaciones del Pacífico, el día 1 de junio de 1945, en un accidente aéreo, cuando en una formación de ocho aviones, al mando del Teniente P.A. José Espinosa Fuentes, realizaba una misión de entrenamiento de bombardeo inclinado contra un islote, localizado aproximadamente a una milla y media al sureste de las pequeñas Islas Tabones, situadas frente a la costa occidente de la Isla Luzón, Filipinas. El Servicio de Búsqueda de la Fuerza Aérea Norteamericana, confirmó que el avión P-47 se había hundido en el mar sin que el Piloto apareciera.
Unander, Sig (2008). "Strike of the Aztec Eagles!". Air Art Northwest. Cornelius, Oregon. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015. On June 1, 1945, a dive-bombing training mission was flown in which Lt. Fausto Vega Santander, the youngest pilot in the squadron, was killed on his 18th birthday. A flight of four fighters led by Lt. Carlos Garduno Nunez was making attacks on a target on an island a few miles off the west coast west of Luzon. Lt.Vega was killed when his P-47 inexplicably rolled suddenly to the right and crashed into the sea at high speed, exploding on impact, according to Lt. Moreno, who followed him over the target. His body was never recovered.
Mendieta, Antonio (May 31, 2002). "The Team". Mexican Expeditionary Air Force 201st Fighter Squadron (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2015. Numero De Serie: 42-23228; Tipo: P-47D-15-RA; Codigo del Escuadron201: Desconocido; Prestado por la USAF, descartado el 1ro. de Junio de 1945 a las115 horas cuando choco en el mar al conducir practicas de bombardeo en picada. Tte. Fausto Vega Santander murio en el acto. El lugar del accidente fue reportado a media milla Sur-Oeste de la isla Tabones.

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[1] Flores, Santiago A. (2000). "201st Mexican Fighter Squadron". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[2] "Subteniente P.A. Fausto Vega Santander". Conoce la Sedena / Antecedentes Históricos / Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (in Spanish). Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2015. Tuvo el triste honor de ser el Primer Militar Mexicano que falleció en el Teatro de Operaciones del Pacífico, el día 1 de junio de 1945, en un accidente aéreo, cuando en una formación de ocho aviones, al mando del Teniente P.A. José Espinosa Fuentes, realizaba una misión de entrenamiento de bombardeo inclinado contra un islote, localizado aproximadamente a una milla y media al sureste de las pequeñas Islas Tabones, situadas frente a la costa occidente de la Isla Luzón, Filipinas. El Servicio de Búsqueda de la Fuerza Aérea Norteamericana, confirmó que el avión P-47 se había hundido en el mar sin que el Piloto apareciera.

[3] Unander, Sig (2008). "Strike of the Aztec Eagles!". Air Art Northwest. Cornelius, Oregon. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015. On June 1, 1945, a dive-bombing training mission was flown in which Lt. Fausto Vega Santander, the youngest pilot in the squadron, was killed on his 18th birthday. A flight of four fighters led by Lt. Carlos Garduno Nunez was making attacks on a target on an island a few miles off the west coast west of Luzon. Lt.Vega was killed when his P-47 inexplicably rolled suddenly to the right and crashed into the sea at high speed, exploding on impact, according to Lt. Moreno, who followed him over the target. His body was never recovered.

[4] Mendieta, Antonio (May 31, 2002). "The Team". Mexican Expeditionary Air Force 201st Fighter Squadron (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2015. Numero De Serie: 42-23228; Tipo: P-47D-15-RA; Codigo del Escuadron201: Desconocido; Prestado por la USAF, descartado el 1ro. de Junio de 1945 a las115 horas cuando choco en el mar al conducir practicas de bombardeo en picada. Tte. Fausto Vega Santander murio en el acto. El lugar del accidente fue reportado a media milla Sur-Oeste de la isla Tabones.