Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
José Moreno Hernández was born on August 7, 1962, in the community of French Camp in California. His family was originally from the municipality of La Piedad in western Mexico’s state of Michoacán. During much of his childhood, as a matter of fact, Hernández and his family routinely spent half the year in the United... Continue Reading →
In 2022, Jo-Ann F. Burdian achieved a notable milestone as part of her service in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) when she was promoted from captain to rear admiral (lower half). This promotion made her the first Latina in the USCG’s history to become a flag officer. This type of commissioned officer is senior enough... Continue Reading →
Oscar “Oz” Sanchez, who is of Mexican descent, was born on December 2, 1975, in Los Angeles. By the time he graduated from high school, Sanchez had become heavily involved in gangs and drugs in the inner-city neighborhood where he and his family lived. He was able to turn his life around for the better,... Continue Reading →
As a senior astronautical engineer at NASA, Irma Aracely Quispe Neira (widely known as Aracely Quispe) has made several noteworthy contributions to space and flight operations on behalf of that agency. Her accomplishments to date include becoming the first woman of Latin American descent to help oversee and lead three separate NASA missions. These major... Continue Reading →
Juan Ortega was born in Spain in 1840. He eventually immigrated to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania. Ortega, who became better known as John rather than Juan, would serve with distinction while fighting for his adopted country during the American Civil War. Ortega joined the Union Navy -- the name for the U.S.... Continue Reading →
In 1980, Linda Garcia Cubero became a member of the first class of women to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). She made history as well as the first woman of Hispanic descent to graduate from any of the service academies. In a 2009 interview with Latina Style magazine, Linda discussed her own... Continue Reading →
For nearly four decades now, Michael P. Huerta has served in a wide range of high-ranking transportation roles. In a 2011 speech at the National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees Annual Training Conference, Huerta addressed not only those professional achievements but also the prejudicial treatment he sometimes encountered early on in life as a... Continue Reading →
In 2002, Angelina Hidalgo became only the second Hispanic American woman in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to command an afloat unit. As a lieutenant junior grade, she was specifically named commanding officer of the coastal patrol boat USCGC Kingfisher (WPB-87322). This appointment was made just two years after Hidalgo graduated from the USCG Academy... Continue Reading →
Cipriano Andrade, whose U.S. Navy service spanned four decades, was born on September 1, 1840 in the port city of Tampico in northeastern Mexico. He eventually attended both public and private schools in Philadelphia. In addition, Andrade studied engineering at the Franklin Institute in that city. On July 1, 1861 -- less than three months... Continue Reading →
As a soldier in the Massachusetts National Guard (the Bay State’s component of the U.S. Army National Guard), Marisol A. Chalas achieved an aviation milestone by becoming the first Latina in the entire National Guard to pilot a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. (That longtime four-blade, twin-engine utility helicopter is manufactured for the Army by the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 