View source for José Antonio Muñiz

{{short description|US Air Force officer, co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard}}
{{Infobox military person
|name         = José Antonio Muñiz 
|birth_date   = October 16, 1919  
|birth_place  = [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]]
|death_date   = {{D-da|July 4, 1960|October 16, 1919}}
|death_place  = [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
|placeofburial= [[Puerto Rico National Cemetery]] in [[Bayamón, Puerto Rico]]
|image        = Jose A. Muniz.jpg
|image_size=150
|caption      = '''Lieutenant Colonel José Antonio Muñiz'''<br/><small>Co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard</small>
|nickname     = 
|allegiance   = [[United States|United States of America]]
|serviceyears = 1943-1960<br>(including service in PRANG) 
|rank         =[[File:US-O5 insignia.svg|25px]] [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]]
|branch = [[File:Us army air corps shield.svg|25px]]&nbsp;[[United States Army Air Forces]] (1943-1947),<br/>[[File:Seal of the US Air Force.svg|25px]]&nbsp;[[United States Air Force]] (1953-1957). <br/>[[File:Puerto Rico Air National Guard.JPEG|25px]]&nbsp;[[Puerto Rico Air National Guard]] (1947-1953; 1957-1960)
|commands     = Commander of the 198th Fighter Squadron,<br>[[Puerto Rico Air National Guard]]
|unit         = 
|battles      = [[World War II]]<br>[[Korean War]]
|awards       = [[File:Air Medal ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Air Medal]]<br>[[File:Soldier's Medal ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Soldier's Medal]]
|laterwork    =Co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard 
}}
Lieutenant Colonel '''José Antonio Muñiz''' (October 16, 1919 – July 4, 1960) was a [[United States Air Force]] officer who during [[World War II]] served in the [[United States Army Air Forces]]. He co-founded the [[Puerto Rico Air National Guard]] together with then-Colonels [[Alberto A. Nido]] and [[Mihiel Gilormini]]. In 1963, the Air National Guard Base, at the [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport|San Juan International Airport]] in Puerto Rico, was renamed "Muñiz Air National Guard Base" in his honor.

==Early years==
Muñiz (birth name: '''José Antonio Muñiz Vazquez'''<ref group=note>{{family name hatnote|'''Muñiz'''|'''Vazquez'''|lang=Spanish}}</ref>), was born in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]]. There he received his primary and secondary education. He attended the "Colegio Ponceño de Varones" in Ponce and later the [[University of Puerto Rico]] (UPR). During his student years, he was a member of that institutions [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]] (ROTC) program.

Like many Puerto Ricans who became interested in aviation, Muñiz made use of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a federal program which came about with the approval of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. The CPTP used the classrooms of the [[University of Puerto Rico]] at [[Rio Piedras]], which was supported by government funds and which provided a pool of young civilian pilots who could be available for military service if war came.<ref>[http://www.theyflewproud.com/flew.pdf List of CPTP schools]</ref> Executive Order 8974 was signed on December 12, 1941, transferring the CPTP into a wartime program under the War Training Service (WTS). All WTS graduates were now required to sign a contract agreeing to enter the military following graduation.<ref>[http://www.theyflewproud.com/eventsandbookexcerpt.html They Flew Proud]</ref> In 1941, graduated Muñiz from the UPR and ROTC. He received a commission as a [[2nd Lieutenant]] in the [[United States Army]].<ref name="EM">El Mundo; "La carrera de Jose Antonio Muñiz en las fuerzas aéreas de los EE. UU.; April 26, 1944; Number 9986; (Spanish)</ref>

==World War II==
Muñiz joined the United States Army and in 1942 was assigned to the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF), a component of the Army and received additional training as a fighter pilot. The USAAF was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. He served with distinction in the [[China-Burma-India Theater]]. During his tour of duty he flew 20 combat missions against the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]]s and shot down a [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]].<ref>"Relatan hechos en que Participaron"; El Mundo; May 12, 1945; Number 10467</ref>

==Post World War II and the Korean War==
[[File:JAM's P47.jpg|thumb|alt=Three F-86s|right|Muñiz's PRANG P-47 on display at Muñiz Air National Guard Base]]
Muñiz continued in active duty until May 1947. Together with then-Colonels [[Alberto A. Nido]] and [[Mihiel Gilormini]], he founded the [[Puerto Rico Air National Guard]] (PRANG). During the Korean War he was recalled to active duty and was reassigned to the United States Air Force (aviation military branch which was formed in September 1947). Muñiz served actively in said branch until February 7, 1958.<ref name="PRANG">[https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=11550087933&topic=4303 Why is the  base at SJU called Muñiz?]</ref>

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he rejoined the Puerto Rico Air National Guard as Commander of the 198th Fighter Squadron. He served in that capacity until a tragic accident took his life. In 1960, Muñiz was going to fly in a formation of [[F-86D]]s celebrating the 4th of July festivities in Puerto Rico and upon take off his airplane (51-8365) flamed out and crashed. Major General [[Orlando Llenza]], then a fellow aviator in the unit, later described the loss in the following translation:

{{quotebox|We were short one pilot and Joe (Muñiz) offered to stand in.  I was formation lead.  Right after departing the runway, his afterburner nozzles failed open, indicating a loss of power.  The ejection seats in use at the time could not safely extract a pilot at low altitude and Joe went in little after takeoff.  No one in the flight mentioned the event; we executed the flyover and were notified of the loss upon our return to base.  Shortly after that, we received the F-86H which did not use afterburning and could fly non-stop from homestead AFB (in Florida) to San Juan unlike the previous D and E models, which had to stop for fuel at Guantanamo, Cuba.<ref name="PRANG"/>}}

Muñiz was buried with full [[military honors]] at the [[Puerto Rico National Cemetery]] in [[Bayamon, Puerto Rico]].<ref>[http://files.usgwarchives.net/foreign/puertorico/cemeteries/pr-national/pr-m11.txt Puerto Rico National Cemetery, Bayamon]</ref> Muñiz had married twice. His first wife was Laura Elena Lluberas Kells, who died at an early age of 18, and he had one son from that marriage: Terry Francisco Muñiz Lluberas. His second wife was Sara Emilia Olivari and they had four children: Jose Antonio, Cristina, Ana Elena, and Eric Muñiz Olivari.

==Legacy==
In 1963, the Air National Guard Base, at the San Juan International airport in Puerto Rico, was renamed "[[Muñiz Air National Guard Base]]" in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Jose Antonio Muñiz Vazquez. The José Antonio Muñiz Memorial is also at this base.<ref name="MAB">[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/muniz.htm Muñiz Air National Guard Base]</ref> Muñiz Air National Guard Base is the home of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard's [[156th Airlift Wing]] and the [[198th Airlift Squadron]].<ref name="MAB"/>

In 2020 José Antonio Muñiz was posthumously inducted to the Puerto Rico Veterans Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.opv.pr.gov/salon-de-la-fama/salon-de-la-fama | title=Salón de la Fama }}</ref>

==Awards and decorations==
Among Muñiz's awards and decorations were the following:<br/>
'''Awards:'''
*[[File:Soldier's Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Soldier's Medal]]
*[[File:Air Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Air Medal]]
*[[File:AF_Presidential_Unit_Citation_Ribbon.png|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Air Force Presidential Unit Citation]]
*[[File:Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal ribbon.PNG|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal]]
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[File:National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[National Defense Service Medal]]
*[[File:Air_and_Space_Longevity_Service_Award.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Air Force Longevity Service Award]]
*[[Image:Korean Service Medal - Ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Korean Service Medal]]
*[[Image:United Nations Service Medal Korea ribbon.svg|60px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[United Nations Korea Medal]]

'''Badges:'''
*&nbsp;&nbsp;[[United States Aviator Badge|WW II Army Air Force Pilot Badge]]
*[[File:COMMAND PILOT WINGS.png|100px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Aviator badge|US Air Force Pilot badge]]
'''Patch'''
*[[File:China Burma India Seal.jpg|100px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;[[China Burma India Theater|China Burma India Theater of World War II insignia as a badge]]

==Further reading==
*''Puertorriquenos Who Served With Guts, Glory, and Honor. Fighting to Defend a Nation Not Completely Their Own'', by Greg Boudonck; {{ISBN|1497421837}}; {{ISBN|978-1497421837}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Biography}}
*[[List of Puerto Ricans]]
*[[List of Puerto Rican military personnel]]
*[[Puerto Ricans in World War II]]
*[[Hispanics in the United States Air Force]]
*[[Puerto Rico Air National Guard]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
<references group=note/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Negroni, Héctor Andrés. ''Historia Militar de Puerto Rico (A Military History of Puerto Rico)''. Turner Publishing, 1992. 536 pp.&nbsp;{{ISBN|84-7844-138-7}}

{{Recipients of the Soldier's Medal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muniz, Jose Antonio}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Burials at Puerto Rico National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican United States Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican military officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Ponce]]
[[Category:National Guard (United States) officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Medal]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:United States Air Force officers]]
[[Category:University of Puerto Rico alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Soldier's Medal]]
[[Category:Puerto Rico National Guard personnel]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1960]]