Cardenas speaks at the dedication of a monument at the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park honoring his military service.

Bob Cardenas

American Hero

Fighter Pilot

Cardenas: Federal, State and Veterans Leadership; Honored for Military Service

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed Robert Cardenas the California coordinator for the Southwest Border Economic Action Group. In 1985, California Governor George Deukmejian named him chairman of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Advisory Group.

He also served on the California Council of Criminal Justice, and later as a member of the California Veterans Board, eventually becoming chairman. He served as chairman of the San Diego United Veterans Council, and as a director on the Board of the Veterans Memorial Center & Museum of San Diego, among many [Continue Reading]

Cardenas flew jet aircraft during the Korea and Vietnam wars.

Bob Cardenas

American Hero

Community Leader

Cardenas: Flew Jet Fighters During Korea and Vietnam

During the Korean War, Lieutenant Colonel Cardenas flight-tested new jet fighters and bombers and then was assigned as commander of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing on Okinawa. On his return to the States, he was named chief of the Aircraft and Missiles Program Division at the Pentagon.

In 1962, Colonel Cardenas led a joint Army-Air Force special command into India to evaluate and improve high-altitude resupply drops in the Himalaya Mountains. The techniques the group developed were used to equip troops and prevent a Chinese incursion through the Himalayas into East Pakistan.

During the early days of the Vietnam War, Cardenas [Continue Reading]

Cardenas flew bombers like this during WWII.

Bob Cardenas

Fighter Pilot

Community Leader

Cardenas: Born in Mexico, He Became an American Hero

Born in 1920 in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, Robert Cardenas and his family moved to San Diego when he was 5 years old. Excelling in math and physics in high school, he attended San Diego State University, then in 1939 enlisted in the California National Guard. In 1940, he was designated an aviation cadet, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corp in July 1941.

In 1944, Captain Cardenas was on his 20th bombing mission over Germany when his aircraft was hit and he sustained a head injury. Bailing out of the crippled plane, he landed on the [Continue Reading]

Brig. Gen. Robert L. Cardenas, USAF

American Hero

Fighter Pilot

Community Leader

Aviation Legend Brig. Gen. Robert L. Cardenas Dies at 102

Air Force combat leader, bomber and fighter pilot, was key figure in securing federal approval for Miramar National Cemetery

By Bill Heard, Public Information Officer

(March 14, 2022) A legendary figure among the nation’s military aviators, and a leader in the San Diego veterans’ community—retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas—died on his 102nd birthday, March 10, 2022, while hospitalized at Sharp Memorial Hospital.

Cardenas is survived by his wife of 74 years, Gladys, his sons Michael and Mark, and his daughters Robin, Debra, and Maria. Services and burial at Miramar National Cemetery are pending.

Members of the Miramar National Cemetery Support [Continue Reading]

9/11 Heroes Honored In Veterans Day 2021 Video Program

Speakers include Navy Officer Who Survived Pentagon Attack; SDFD Fire Chief Who Led Search/Rescue Team at Twin Towers

(Nov. 5, 2021) If then-Navy Lt. Christopher Ludmer of San Diego had been in his usual office at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, he would have been in the exact spot where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west wall of the Pentagon.

Assistant Fire Chief John Wood led a San Diego Fire Department Fire-Rescue Team that spent two weeks on the Twin Towers rubble pile helping local first responders in their search, rescue, and victim recovery effort.

Principal Speakers: Christopher Ludmer, John Wood

Ludmer and Wood are the principal speakers in an [Continue Reading]

An Army honor guard conducts a flag-folding ceremony during the committal service for former Army Lt. George Key.

Two Notable WWII Veterans Now at Rest at Miramar National Cemetery

Fought in Key Battles in the Pacific and in Europe

(Sept. 27, 2021) Two World War II veterans with remarkable backgrounds—a Marine officer who fought on Iwo Jima, and an Army officer with an historic ancestor—were buried in September at Miramar National Cemetery, and now lie at rest among their fellow veterans.

Retired Marine Colonel Dave E. Severance, 102, was buried at Miramar on Sept. 15. As a young captain, he was in command of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment on Feb. 23, 1945, when he ordered five of [Continue Reading]

Ex-POWs, from left, Jim Kell, Tom Crosby, and Larry Strickland. USS Pueblo crewmen Kell and Strickland were held in North Korea after their ship was captured. Crosby was eight years old when he and his family were interned in a Philippines prison camp by the Japanese.

American Ex-POWs Remember the Hardships of Captivity  

10th Anniversary of POW Monument at Miramar National Cemetery

(Sept. 9, 2021) It was only a small group of ex-prisoners of war who were left to attend the 10th anniversary of the POW monument at Miramar National Cemetery. The black POW flag, flying above the statue of a gaunt prisoner emerging from barbed wire confinement, waved gently in a warm breeze. 

Some 20 family members and friends were [Continue Reading]

Bob Baker, San Diego Businessman, Veteran, Patriot, and Philanthropist Died Sept. 5

(Sept. 8, 2021) Bob Baker, well-known San Diego businessman, veteran, patriot and philanthropist—and major benefactor of the Support Foundation—died Sunday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe. He would have been 90 years old on October 1.

An Army veteran of the Korean War, Baker fought with the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division at the crucial Battle of Outpost Harry in June 1953. The outpost was a strategic position on a tiny hilltop on the direct route to the South Korean capital of Seoul, some 60 miles south.

The embattled troops were told to “hold at all costs.” They endured repeated attacks and hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese troops [Continue Reading]