dfd (Photo courtesy TK)
Our Stories
A much-admired leader in San Diego’s veterans’ community, Air Force Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas ranks among the nation’s legendary military aviators. The many awards he received during his career include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, and Purple Heart. Born in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico in 1920, Cardenas moved with his family to San Diego when he was five years old. As a teenager, he became fascinated with building model airplanes and watching gliders soar off Torrey Pines. In 1939, while attending San Diego State, he enlisted as a private in the California National Guard.
A Legend Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas, USAF World War II and Vietnam Veteran
74th Anniversary of Super-Sonic Flight, Edwards Air Force Base, California, October 1947 (Photo courtesy ©Air Force Test Center History Office)
The next year, he became an aviation cadet in the U.S. Air Force, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in July 1941, just prior to the nation’s entry into WWII, with war declared against Japan. As the war effort expanded, Cardenas rose rapidly through the aviator ranks and served as a B-24 Bomber pilot in the European Theater of Operations with the 505th Bombardment Squadron.
Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas, USAF Circa late 1960s (Photo courtesy©US Air Force)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 9 – Proudly We Serve
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