Category:Mexican Border War Veterans

These folk were Mexican Border War Veterans, as identified by the Baseball and the Armed Forces Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

This information has been dug out of numerous sources including newspaper obituaries (OB), VA Hospital Records (VA), Miltary Cemetery websites (CM), Soldier & Sailors System (CW), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), Stars&Stripes (S&S), the SABR BIOProject (BP), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (WW), old Baseball Registers (BR), Commissioners Lists (CL), The Baseball Necrology (BN), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB), independent research by Walter Kephart and Frank Russo and others.

On March 9, 1916, Pancho Villa led 1,500 Mexican raiders in a cross-border attack against Columbus NM in response to the U.S. government's official recognition of the Carranza regime. They attacked a detachment of the 13th US Cavalry, seized 100 horses and mules, burned the town, killed ten soldiers and eight of its residents, and took much ammunition and weaponry.

United States' President Woodrow Wilson responded by sending 6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. In the U.S., this was known as the Punitive or Pancho Villa Expedition. During the search, the United States launched its first air combat mission with eight airplanes. At the same time Villa was also being sought by Carranza's army. The U.S. expedition was eventually called off as a failure, and Villa successfully escaped from both armies.

Pancho Villa in Wikiedia