José Noé Mendez celebrated his 101st birthday flying over South Texas in a Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane. It’s an aircraft type he once helped maintain before his years of active service during World War II.
“I had experience in flying before,” he said. “I didn’t get the license, but I took a course in flying, and I was flying small planes.”
These days, Mendez is able to talk about his combat experience from the war. But for decades, he kept his story closely guarded…