''For the rest of his life, my father was very proud of his role in Operation Pedro Pan, but he never tried to get credit for it. He was just glad so many kids made it out,'' said Baker's son, Chris Baker.

Others also helped, including Polita Grau and her brother, Ramón Grau. Their uncle Ramón Grau San Martín, had been president of Cuba, but that didn't stop Castro from arresting the two in 1965, largely for their role in Operation Pedro Pan. The CIA also played a role in directing Pedro Pan.

Gustavo Marinello, who made it out on a visa waiver at age 11, said his mother, Silvia, was a CIA operative and obtained her children's visa waivers from Polita Grau.

''It wasn't a big secret who my mother worked for; there were agents who would come to our house to pay her salary,'' Marinello said. ``When she wanted to get us out of Cuba, she went to Polita.''

THE PAINFUL PRICE

Yale historian, author and Pedro Pan veteran Carlos Eire praises the painful decision made by parents and feels they acted unselfishly in a dark moment.

''Our parents correctly judged Cuba to be a sinking ship, and most of them probably felt a lot like the passengers on the Titanic as it was going down,'' said Eire, who wrote a memoir about his experience titled Waiting for Snow in Havana.

``They threw us into the only lifeboat available, knowing that they had no other choice.''

Carmen Cancelas, 84, who lives in Puerto Rico, knows she did the right thing by sending her daughter and two sons ahead, but still struggles with the emotional scars the separation may have left on her kids.

She still chokes up when she speaks of her decision -- over the objections of her late husband, who felt Castro would fall within months and that there was no need to send the children away.

''It was the hardest thing I did in my life,'' she said. ``During the year and a half I was separated from them, I cried every day and said a prayer for each one. But I knew I had to get them out of Cuba or lose them to communism.''

Flores, who did not reunite with his parents for two years, said that even as he is grateful for the sacrifices his parents made, there was a price to pay.

''I had to grow up fast; I know I lost part of my childhood,'' he said. `` I had to become a man before I was ready.''