Patrick Murphy was an Irish pilot who mistakenly bombed the border town of Naco, Arizona. Little is known of his personal life.
Murphy owned a biplane around the time of the Cristero War (also known as "The Cristiada") in Mexico against the purportedly anti-Catholic and secular government of Emilio Portes Gil. Murphy decided to aid the rebels by using his biplane to bomb the government-controlled town of Naco, Sonora. He made several attempts between March 31 and April 6 to bomb Naco but also, apparently accidentally, bombed the Arizona border town of the same name, destroying various buildings and a car. United States federal troops eventually came to his house and disabled his biplane. Murphy escaped to rebel territory in Mexico but eventually returned to the United States and was briefly jailed.[1]
Murphy became the first person working for a foreign power to ever bomb the mainland United States. Balladeer Dolan Ellis honored Murphy in one of his songs on his "Tall Tales, Lost Trails & Heroes" album.