DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker in Nueces County has to say about a meeting that put two presidents on the same soil for the first time in a generation. Now, you want to talk about a train ride with some weight to it, let me tell you about April 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt climbed aboard a train and set out on a sixteen-day journey — inspecting twelve military installations and four war production plants.
That right there would be a full story on its own. But the real headline, the moment everybody was building toward, was a face-to-face meeting with Mexico's President Manuel Ávila Camacho. And here's the thing that makes you sit up straight: it was the first meeting between the leaders of those two adjoining countries in thirty-four years.
Now to understand why this mattered, you have to back up a decade. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he pledged what he called a Good Neighbor policy toward Latin American nations — built on mutual cooperation and respect. That wasn't just pretty words for a speech.
When World War II came knocking, Mexico stood with the United States and declared war against the Axis Powers. Mexican nationals were serving in U.S. Armed Forces by the thousands.
The Bracero program was bringing laborers from Mexico to work the agricultural fields. These two countries weren't just neighbors — they were partners in something enormous. So on April 20, the two presidents met in Monterrey.
Roosevelt brought a contingent that included First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico George Messersmith, and State Department officials. And Monterrey turned out in force.
Thousands of cheering residents welcomed the American delegation. There was a seven-course banquet. There was a review of troops.
It was the kind of gathering that tells you both sides understood the stakes. The following day, the train crossed the border at Laredo and rolled on to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. And here's where the story takes a turn that makes you appreciate the whole design of it — because among the cadets receiving flight training at that station were cadets from Mexico.
President Camacho wasn't just visiting an American military base. He was greeting his own countrymen, and their ground crews, on American soil. Eleanor Roosevelt met with waves.
The group was escorted to the administration building — a building that would later become CNATRA headquarters — and sat down for lunch at the cadet mess hall. Then came the culmination. Dozens of planes in a flyover and dive-bombing exhibition.
You didn't need a translator for that. Ambassador Messersmith, who'd been there for all of it — Monterrey, Corpus Christi, the banquet, the mess hall, the whole sixteen days collapsing into this one moment — called the exchange the beginning of a new era in the relationship between the two countries. Some beginnings you have to earn.
This one took a sixteen-day train ride, two presidents, thirty-four years of waiting, and dozens of planes writing it across the Texas sky.
What the marker says
Upon his inauguration in 1933, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt pledged a "Good Neighbor" policy toward Latin American nations based on mutual cooperation and respect. This proved valuable during World War II when several of these countries, including Mexico, joined the U.S. to declare war against the Axis Powers. Mexico and the U.S. enjoyed a good relationship during the war, highlighted by thousands of Mexican nationals serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and creation of the Bracero program, which brought laborers from Mexico to perform agricultural work in the U.S. In April 1943, President Roosevelt took a 16-day train trip to inspect twelve military installations and four war production plants. The highlight was a reciprocal visit with Mexico's President Manuel ��vila Camacho, the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the adjoining countries in 34 years. They met in Monterrey on April 20 with a contingent including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico George Messersmith and State Department officials. Thousands of cheering residents welcomed the American delegation, and events included a seven-course banquet and review of troops. The following day the train crossed the border at Laredo and continued to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, where cadets from Mexico were among those receiving flight training. The group was escorted to the administration building (later CNATRA headquarters) and lunch at the cadet mess hall. Eleanor Roosevelt met with waves, and President Camacho greeted cadets from Mexico and their ground crews. The culmination of the visit was dozens of planes in a flyover and dive-bombing exhibition. Ambassador Messersmith described the exchange as "the beginning of a new era in the relationship between the two countries." (2021)