OPERATION PEDRO PAN

Statue of late 'father' of Pedro Pan unveiled

A statue to honor the 'father' of Operation Pedro Pan, Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh, was unveiled.

ElOISA ECHAZÁBAL

Pedro Pan veteran who first rejected memory of program, now works to preserve its history

Name: Eloisa Echazábal

• Interactive | Chronology of the Cuban Revolution
• Interactive | The Cuban Revolution: An Oral History

Cubans reconnect with past through Pedro Pan database

Scores of Pedro Pan veterans who came to the United States as children during the child exodus crowded into The Miami Herald pavilion on Sunday to find their names in a unique database unveiled by the newspaper over the weekend at Cuba Nostalgia.

• Interactive | Search the Operation Pedro Pan database
• Pedro Pan tale: Eloy Cepero

Pedro Pan was born of fear, human instinct to protect children

Children's exodus captured in database at MiamiHerald.com/PedroPan

Operation Pedro Pan, Cuban parents' agonizing decisions saved thousands

Forty years after Operation Pedro Pan ended, I was at Havana's Jose Martí International Airport after spending almost a month reporting from the communist island in 2002.

JUAN PUJOL

For Juan Pujol, suffering of separation during Pedro Pan was for the best

Name: Juan Pujol. Arrival date: Aug. 8, 1962. Age: 16.

CARMEN ROMANACH PEREZ CANCELAS

Woman's past awakened by Elián's struggle

Name: Carmen Romanach Perez Cancelas. Arrival date: Oct. 19, 1961. Age: 15.

RENE RUIZ

Miami helped Ruiz brothers reconnect to culture left behind

Our family came from Havana, a beautiful city that some have called a tropical paradise. My brothers and I came to Miami on a Pan American flight and were taken to a campground that the Pedro Pan organizers had set up in Kendall, near where Town & Country Mall now stands. We were there for about two weeks before being sent to Albuquerque, N.M., where we were taken in by the family of Dr. Eugene Purtell.

TO OUR READERS

Recovered notes give birth to Herald's Pedro Pan database project

For nearly half a century, one of the more fascinating chapters in the history of Miami has been hidden away inside binders, all but forgotten.

SIXTO AND VIVIAN AQUINO

Brother and sister were the pioneers of program

Name: Sixto and Vivian Aquino Arrival date: December 26, 1960 Ages: 12 and 14

THE CEPERO BROTHERS

Struggles in U.S. were few for three lucky brothers

Name: Eloy Cepero Arrival date: June 11, 1962 Age: 15

OPERATION PEDRO PAN | 1960-1962

A man known as 'George' was prince of Pedro Pan

Ray Flores still recalls his parents' odd, but stern instruction as they tearfully parted nearly 50 years ago. ``When you land in Miami, ask for George.''