Operation Peter Pan
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Operation Peter Pan (Operación Pedro Pan), took place between 1960 and 1962. It was an operation coordinated by the Roman Catholic Church and Cuban refugees in which over 14,000 children were saved from Communist tyranny in Cuba.
The parents of these children were among millions opposed to Fidel Castro's state terrorism and were themselves unable to leave the island as a result of Castro's oppression. They believed providing their children with the gift of opportunity in the United States was preferable to saddling them under a lifetime of Communism. Pan Am flights took the children to Miami, Florida. The children, who included Florida Senator Mel Martinez, became known as the "Peter Pans."