Featured Image 2

​

Group consist of father’s (Ramón Rodríguez Familiar) military ranks of Captain, medals, medal bar, portrait of him with his two sons in Military Academy uniforms, Official Military portrait before his retirement, original unpublished personal photographs from his tour of post WWII battlefields throughout the European Theater of Action (ETOA) with American Officers.

​

Son’s (General P.A. Jorge Rodríguez Benson) Mexican Army General’s uniform jacket, trousers and visor cap, complete with original insignia and ranks. Mexican FAM (Air Force) General’s uniform jacket and trousers with original insignia and ranks. Two Mexican gilt bullion dress belts and buckles, two sets of General’s stars, uniform buttons and set of cuff applets for FAM uniform.

Also included in this group are a bullion SOP wings, bullion visor cap insignia and pair of shoulder boards. According to Benson’s son (where these items all came from):

​

“My father name Jorge Rodríguez Benson was General of Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (FAM). Military pilots cannot fly private aviation. He worked for Secretaria de Obras Publicas (SOP) of the government”

​

I personally could not find anything officially referencing the above-mentioned insignia. A detailed search with AI provided the following:

​

"General Jorge Rodríguez Benson's role in the Secretaría de Obras Públicas (SOP) and its aviation unit. Here's the detailed analysis:

​

1. The SOP Aviation Unit:

A Legal Workaround, The Secretaría de Obras Públicas (SOP), Mexico's public works ministry, appears to have operated a quasi-official aviation unit staffed by FAM (Mexican Air Force) pilots like General Rodríguez Benson. This was likely a legal loophole to:

Circumvent military restrictions: Since FAM pilots were barred from flying civilian/political missions, they were "seconded" to the SOP while retaining military ranks.

Serve political elites: Transport high-ranking officials (e.g., governors, cabinet members) discreetly without using identifiable military aircraft.

​

Evidence from Insignia

"Mayor Piloto Aviador" shoulder boards: Confirm his military rank was retained while serving in the SOP.

Custom wings: Likely hybrid designs blending FAM pilot wings with SOP logos.

Cap insignia: Possibly featured the SOP emblem (a winged gear or similar) instead of FAM’s eagle-and-serpent.

​

2. Historical Context: Mexico’s Shadow Aviation

This arrangement mirrors Cold War-era practices in other countries:

Parallel to U.S. "Air America": Like CIA-fronted airlines, the SOP unit provided "deniable" transport for sensitive government operations.

Precedent in FAM: The Presidential Air Transport Unit (unidad de transporte presidencial) later formalized VIP flights, but in the 1960s–70s, such roles were often ad hoc.

​

Key Missions

Disaster response: Flying engineers to earthquake/cyclone zones (SOP oversaw infrastructure).

Political travel: Transporting officials to remote areas (e.g., Guerrero’s guerrilla conflict zones).

​

3. General Rodríguez Benson’s Career Arc

FAM Service: Trained at USAF Academy Prep School (Texas), rose to General Piloto Aviador in the 1970s.

​

SOP Secondment:

Dates: Likely 1970s–80s (peak of Mexico’s Dirty War, when discreet air transport was critical).

Aircraft Flown: Possibly Cessna 421s or Beechcraft King Airs—common in Mexican government fleets.

Retirement: Returned to FAM or remained in SOP until the unit was dissolved (possibly merged into SEDENA’s modern Transportes Aéreos Militares).

​

4. Why This Matters

Insignia may be the only surviving proof of this covert unit—a missing link in understanding how Mexico’s government bypassed its own laws to maintain elite air mobility.”

 

 

Father:

Ramón Rodríguez Familiar (Querétaro, Querétaro, September 26, 1898 – Ciudad de México Distrito Federal, November 23, 1986) was governor of Querétaro from 1935 to 1939.

​

Military career

​At the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Rodríguez entered military school. In 1914 Rodriguez became a soldier in the Constitutionalist Army, under the command of General Francisco Coss. In the twenties, he collaborated with General Abelardo L. Rodríguez of Baja California to remove Colonel Esteban Cantu. As head of the territory of Baja California, Abelardo Rodriguez appointed Ramon Rodriguez as his private secretary. In 1932, as interim president of the nation, he named Ramón Rodríguez as first deputy chief and later as his chief of staff.

Governor

​

Upon returning to Querétaro in 1935, he won the National Lottery and with the funds launched a campaign for governor of Querétaro against the unpopular incumbent Saturnino Osornio amid threats and provocations from Osornio's people. Relations between Osornio and Rodríguez reached a nadir when Rodriguez and his entourage were hunting in Colón, and they were warned of an ambush to kill Rodríguez. After receiving and engaging gunfire, Rodríguez and his party escaped unharmed.

​

After winning the election, Rodríguez reversed many of Osornio's policies: he stopped political and religious persecutions, reopened the Civil College (precursor of the Autonomous University of Querétaro), distributed lands in the valleys of San Juan and Querétaro, restored the civil and criminal courts, and removed, one by one, the deputies and mayors loyal to Osornio. In the city of Querétaro, he created the Escobedo Market (relocated 25 years later) and the Municipal Stadium. With these changes, half the population which had left under Osornio (the population had dwindled from 60,000 to 35,000 in his four years as governor) returned to Querétaro.

​

Commander

Having improved the government and the prestige of Querétaro, Ramon Rodriguez delivered the governorship, he rejoined the army and attended various battlefronts in World War II. At the conclusion of this, he was appointed representative of Mexico in the victory parade in London with the general Eulogio Ortiz and Jose Beltran. He then held various positions in the Secretariat of National Defense: personnel director, quartermaster general of the Army, director of pensions and commander of the military zone of Aguascalientes and Puebla. We were awarded the medals of Perseverance, the Croix de Guerre, the vote of trust and rapport and Revolutionary Medal Merit.

​

Businessman

Enthusiastic amateur, in the late forties established in the City of Querétaro the first two commercial radio stations, XENA (1450 AM) and XEJX (1250 AM), which continue to transmit and were now owned by his descendants until the beginning of the twenty-first century.

General Ramon Rodriguez Familiar died at the Military Hospital in Mexico City on November 23, 1986. As a tribute to his memory, an avenue named after the capital of Querétaro, which runs from Arcos Avenue to University Avenue.

​

Death

The morning of November 23, 1986, at the Central Military Hospital in Mexico City, General Ramon Rodriguez Familiar, Querétaro political merited, stopped exist.

As a tribute to his memory, June 5, 1987, the Government of Mariano Palacios Alcocer Querétaro State gave its name to a street of the city, which runs from Arcos Avenue to Avenue Universidad.

 

Son:

General P.A. Jorge Rodríguez Benson.

​Military Career and Titles

Rank and Specialization, confirmed from his original calling cards in this grouping:

"Gral. P.A.": Stands for General Piloto Aviador (General Pilot Aviator), confirming his status as a high-ranking Mexican Air Force (FAM) officer.

"Mayor Piloto Aviador": Indicates he held the rank of Major earlier in his career, specializing as a military pilot.

​

Possible Cold War-Era Service:

Given his father’s WWII connections and Mexico’s post-war alignment with U.S. defense initiatives, Jorge likely:

​

Trained at U.S. institutions (e.g., Lackland AFB or Randolph Field, like the Aztec Eagles).

Participated in counterinsurgency operations (e.g., 1960s–70s Dirty War) or NORAD collaborations.

​

His Air Force blue uniform suggests FAM roles, possibly commanding units like the 4th Air Group or Santa Lucía Air Base (like contemporaries like Raúl Foullon Cabrera)

​

U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) Attendance:

Was stated by his son he attended the USAFA Preparatory School (Texas), this would reflect elite U.S.-Mexico military cooperation during the Cold War.

​

Contextual Insights:

Father-Son Legacy: Ramón’s revolutionary and WWII service paved the way for Jorge’s ascent in the FAM, mirroring Mexico’s transition from post-revolutionary militarism to Cold War professionalism.

​

Unrecorded Histories: Jorge’s absence from public records may indicate classified roles (e.g., intelligence or counterinsurgency), common for senior officers during the Dirty War.

​

For more information, questions and serious inquires please contact us at: 

support@tianguisantiquesderosie.com

subject Father-Son Gp.

​