The Time a Drunk Pilot Bombed an American Town
Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are well known instances of America being attacked from the air, but they were not the only times American soil came under aerial attack. The first time that happened was in 1929, when the small town of Naco, Arizona, was bombed. A Mexican rebellion’s fighting spilled over across the border, and a drunk mercenary pilot, hired by the rebels to bomb Mexican forces, bombed Naco instead.
Insurgents in northern Mexico had taken up arms against the Mexican government in the late 1920s, in what came to be known as the Escobar Rebellion. Mexican government forces, or federales, entrenched in the Mexican border town of Naco, in the state of Sonora, directly across the border from the American town of Naco, Arizona.
People in American Naco saw the conflict in Mexican Naco as a spectator event. Sightseers arrived from miles around to take up advantageous positions to watch the battles between Mexican government and rebel forces. Many even crossed into Mexican Naco for a better look. It did not seem foolhardy at the time, particularly as both combatants, fearful of US military intervention, were careful not to fire across the border or unnecessarily endanger the gringos. Still, the occasional stray shot flew by, which only added to the spectators’ thrill and excitement.
In April of 1929, however, things got too exciting. The insurgents hired a mercenary barnstormer pilot named Patrick Murphy, to drop homemade bombs on the federales trenches. On April 2nd, 1929, Murphy dropped two bombs near federales positions, that turned out to be duds, before finally striking a Mexican customs house with a bomb that worked. For the American spectators gathered in nearby salons and clubs in Mexican Naco, things went from thrilling to terrifying when they were peppered with shrapnel, and they stampeded to the American side of the border.
Murphy was probably flying drunk, which explains why, soon thereafter, he dropped a bomb on American Naco. In the following days, he flew further bombing raids, frequently missing the federales trenches in Mexican Naco, and bombing American Naco instead. The errant bombing of US soil destroyed a car, blew up a general store, shattered numerous windows, damaged a US Post Office, and inflicted some injuries.
Murphy’s drunk bombing reign of terror finally ended on April 6th, 1929, when a lucky shot from a federales rifle struck his plane’s engine. Trailing white smoke, Murphy crash landed, then sprinted to the rebel lines. From there, he crossed into the US, where he was arrested by American soldiers and taken to a Nogales jail. He was never charged. US Army detachments, plus a fighter squadron, were sent to American Naco, but by the time they got there the insurgents had already been defeated, and the fighting was over.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources & Further Reading
Ancient Origins – The Lioness of Brittany and Her Black Fleet of Pirates
BBC – Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese Soldier Who Held Out in Guam
Biography – Charles VI of France
Cracked – 5 Ways the Past Was Crazier Than You Thought
Encyclopedia Britannica – Opium Wars
How Stuff Works – Meowing and Biting Nuns: 10 Strangest Mass Hysterias
New York Times, September 26th, 1997 – Shoichi Yokoi, 82, is Dead; Japan Soldier Hid For 27 Years