It takes a little faith, trust, and a visa waiver. In the early 1960s, more than 14,000 unaccompanied children left Cuba and their families behind, fleeing the Castro regime. These children came to the United States on visa waivers from the U.S. government in one of the largest state-sponsored refugee programs in American history. They were also the first refugees to come largely by plane. In this episode of AeroEspacial, we tell some of the stories of Operation Pedro Pan and dig into the forces that made it unique.

Thanks to our guests on this episode:


Dr. Victor Triay, author, professor of history at Middlesex Community College
Dr. Carlos Eire, Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University


This limited series received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino.

AirSpace is made possible by the generous support of Olay.