My Exile
How I flew with Pedro Pan
My name is Isidoro Armenteros. This is the story of my journey out of Cuba, which began on the morning of December 27, 1961. My tearful mother assured me at the airport that I would be away for only a short while, six months at most. They could not travel with me. I was twelve years old.
The dictatorship had declared that all children now belonged to the state. No one then knew that only a few thousands of them would escape before their chance would close forever, or that they would ever be the same again. No one could have foreseen the enormous pain in the years ahead.
These would become the children of Pedro Pan.
I landed in Miami, Florida, and stayed at the Kendall camp, one of several for the arriving children. After thirteen days, I was transferred to the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Washington, Georgia for the next twenty-two months.
This is a picture of my 8th grade graduation there. I am the boy on the far left:
Then I went to live with foster parents in Atlanta, Georgia, for my freshman and sophomore years at St. Pius X Catholic High School. I believe the Catholic Social Services were sponsoring our small group of boys at the time.
Later, I wound up in New York City in what became quite another story, when I rejoined my parents there after years of separation. They had come aboard a Johnson Freedom Flight in February of 1965. Sadly, they were not the same people I had known before. Nothing quite prepared me for that remarkable experience as a boy of fifteen.
As my writing is a work in progress, I am requesting material from anyone who may have known me during these periods of my life, and can add any interesting information about these places and me.
Credit can be given for your information, which may become part of what will be an interesting and positive story. Of course, upon request, anonymity will be assured.
Any information you can provide will be appreciated.
Please, contact me at:
myexilestory@gmail.com or 786-298-0174
