Legacies of Service: Air Interdiction Agent Julio Baray – The Sky’s the Limit

Editor’s note: The story of Air Interdiction Agent Julio Baray and his sons is the third in our series highlighting those who served, died in the line of duty and left a legacy of service to the country by way of their children.

 

Victor Baray loved seeing his father wear his uniform.

“I remember thinking as a kid how cool it was to see him in uniform and see him like that,” he said, remembering back nearly 20 years when he was just 5 years old, seeing his dad in his Border Patrol and then Air and Marine Operations uniforms. “I think every kid wants to fill their father’s shoes, so I knew since I was in elementary school that I wanted to be in law enforcement.”

Victor would fill those shoes, serving in the Marine Corps from 2019-2023 as an infantry rifleman and now as a new Abilene, Texas, police officer, carrying on that sense of duty handed down by his father, Air Interdiction Agent Julio Baray.

“Something that’s a big deal to me is being part of a team bigger than yourself,” Victor said. “So when I would see him at a family event with other agents, you could tell it was a bond that’s not just like your normal buddy down the street; it’s something much deeper than that because they’re doing something larger than themselves together. That influenced me to want to be part of a team as well.”

Victor takes great pride in being able to carry forward his father’s law enforcement legacy.

“Those are big shoes to fill with his story of how he grew up poor and was able to make something great of himself,” he said. “I wanted to be part of the next generation who does the right thing and protects other people.”

But the elder Baray didn’t get to see his son carry his legacy forward. On Sept. 24, 2007, Julio Baray – a veteran Border Patrol agent who transferred to CBP’s Air and Marine Operations to train as a pilot – died while practicing take-offs and landings with instructor Daniel Houting, who was injured. Their small plane crashed 30 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to his widow, Melissa Dorrance Baray, flying was what he really wanted to do, and he got to do that just for a couple of months.

“It breaks my heart because that was his dream job – to be a pilot for the U.S. government, and he didn’t have nearly enough time to do it,” she said, recalling a strange call she got from him, only hearing him talk his way through a preflight checklist for a Blackhawk helicopter. “They finished the checklist, they finally hang up, and few hours later, he called me back and said, ‘I got to start the Blackhawk all by myself!’”

Melissa painted a picture of a loving husband and family man, who made sure his days off were dedicated to his family, making sure both sons knew how much he loved them. “If he couldn’t leave anything else at all, he said he wanted to leave memories for them. Memories and love.”

On that fateful September 2007 day, Melissa was teaching middle school at the time.

“That day, I was so excited that I was able to write the lessons plan [for the next month] for my curriculum. I was so proud,” she said.

But her joy would soon turn to the worst sadness imaginable as she got called to the principal’s office.

“I thought, ‘Oh, great. Now what did I get in trouble for?’” She opened the office’s door, only to see a roomful of agents, and she knew exactly what happened. “I got a punch in my gut, and I knew it wasn’t good.”

Melissa was told of her husband’s death, something she said he predicted would happen.

“He called me and worried that he wouldn’t be able to finish his certification in a Cessna. He said, ‘Tomorrow’s my last day to fly. Should I do it?’” She encouraged him to stay and get his certification because without it, he wouldn’t be able to fly. “He was always about flying. That was his passion.”

But he also seemed to know a darker fate awaited him.

“Julio always told me, ‘If I’m in an accident in a Cessna, I’m not going to live,’” she said, choking back tears as she recalled his premonition. “He just knew.”

Melissa second guessed her encouragement of him going to that certification flight.

“What if I would have said no? He would have come home and been safe,” she said. “But I know – and I knew even then – that when your time is up, your time is up, and there’s no way anybody can change that. He just knew.”

Baray’s oldest son, Miguel “Angel” Baray, didn’t want to talk much for this story. But he did text that his father taught him a sense of honor and responsibility, and that has been foundational. He added it’s his mom who deserves praise and has been under-credited for her role. Angel is a general manager of a music school in New Mexico, a job Melissa said reflects her husband’s philosophical side. Angel said he wants people to know that she carried on doing both roles – as mother and father – and supported him in his father’s absence.

Victor thanked the other agents who stepped up and helped mentor him and shape his future, carrying forward his father’s legacy of service to the nation.

“It was so amazing and beneficial to me that other agents have been mentors in my life,” he said. “I don’t think I could have landed where I am today if it weren’t for those agents who helped me after my dad died.”

And Victor, as he moves forward in his new career as a police officer in Abilene, Texas, knows everything good in his life now started with his father’s legacy of service.

“I’m proud to be living in this country, and just like him, I just want to continue to give the people here the safest and happiest life they could have. In order to do that, there has to be certain individuals who are willing to put themselves in harm’s way so that other people don’t have to be in harm’s way,” he said. “That is law enforcement, and that’s the legacy I want to continue.”

Sincere thanks to the Air and Marine Family Foundation – a nonprofit organization that provides financial and other assistance to CBP Air and Marine Operations employees, current contractors, retirees and their families who are facing challenging times – for connecting us with the Baray family.