He also added to the Voces Project: “There’s no such thing as free lunches or luck, but there are [opportunities], and they’ll come at you a million times. You will make your luck by the opportunities that you take or pass by.” In his private life he worked as an executive and took on a leading role in the successful effort to construct Miramar National Cemetery, which opened in 2010.
On March 18, 1944, Capt. Cardenas was leading his 20th bombing mission over Southern Germany when his aircraft was shot down by enemy fire and suffered a serious head wound from flying shrapnel. Cardenas bailed out of his burning plane and landed on the German side of Lake Constance, which bordered Switzerland. In a 2008 interview with the Voces Oral History Project (Voces Project) by the University of Texas in Austin, Cardenas recalls walking along the water at night and swimming toward Switzerland. “Then, a Swiss man in his rowboat tapped me on the head” and took him to safety. He was interned in Switzerland and six months later found safe passage into France where he was able to rejoin U.S. forces.
Cardenas flew the B-24 Liberator in Europe during WWII (U.S. Air Force) (Photo courtesy©US Air Force)
Cardenas suited up for a flight in an F-105 fighter jet in 1965 (Photo courtesy©US Air Force)
By the time he recovered, he began a new career of piloting experimental aircraft, including fighter jets and bomber aircraft of all sizes. In 1947, Cardenas became the command pilot for the B-29 Superfortress that launched Captain Chuck Yeager in a supersonic experimental aircraft. Cardenas later served as a combat pilot in the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. In the late 1960s, he was promoted to U.S. Brigadier General and served in high-level roles in Spain and Belgium. He retired from the Air Force in 1973, after 34 years of service.
He died on his 102nd birthday and was buried with full military honors in 2022. A granite monument by artist Richard Becker was unveiled in 2015 to honor Air Force Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas, which was commissioned for the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park by the American Ex-POWs. The monument highlights Cardenas’ life, which served as the basis for this hero’s profile.
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 9 – Proudly We Serve
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