President Obama's sometime pastor is a Pedro Pan veteran...
By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com
The plight of Operation Pedro Pan has reached the highest circles of power.
Rev. Luis Leon of St. John's Church across from the street from the
White House, arrived in the United States though the famous child exodus.
''I don't think President Obama knows my story,'' said Leon, 58, who has
hosted the President twice this year -- for a preinaugural service and
Easter Sunday.
But previous previous president George W. Bush knew the Episcopalian
clergyman had been sent in 1961 alone from Cuba by his parents who
feared how he would fall under Communist indoctrination. ''He talked to
me about it during a function at the White House,'' he said. ``He was
very interested.''
Operation Pedro Pan seriously impacted the Leon family, all but
disbaning it.
His father died in Cuba in 1963 after his children left the island, and
by the time his mother made it to the U.S., Leon was at the Berry
Academy in Georgia and his sister was off to college, all thanks to the
Catholic church.
His mother landed a job at Agnes School College in Decatur, GA. and they
saw each other on weekends, ''We did not live together again as a whole
family,'' he said. ``The clan was never regathered. That bothered my
mother, that she could not be a mother hen and regather the flock.''
He says he had no resentment toward his parents; ``They did the right
thing.''
But adds: ``I don't know if I could do the same thing for my children.''
President Obama's sometime pastor is a Pedro Pan veteran... - Breaking
News - MiamiHerald.com (17 May 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1052450.html
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