the network for
Operation Pedro Pan

Mario R's Story

That first day in the United States of America.

For me, it was February 28, 1962.I remember the day as if it was today. Not only was I unaccompanied, but I also was holding the hands of two children younger than me, a boy and a girl, one 11, one 7, whose parents were friends of my parents, and, since we were flying on the same Pan Am flight from Havana to Miami, I was charged by their tearful mom to please make sure they got to the other side safely. They did. I wonder what happened to them in their new country.

If their story is like mine, they became Americans, learned English well, and went on to blend in with the melting pot that is our United States of America. They probably had great success, assimilated quickly and received a fantastic formal education, started their families and became part of the Cuban American community—-perhaps one of the most successful groups of immigrants ever to arrive in the land of freedom and opportunity.

For the rest of the story and my remembrances of that first day in the US, please see my blog:

I, too, was a Pedro Pan

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/i_too_was_one_of_the_pedro_pans