Pardon sought for dad's aid to Israel -Diana Moskovitz
A South Florida man is working to get a presidential pardon for his father, who helped smuggle weapons to Jews fighting in what was then Palestine in the late 1940s.
Charles Winters was a Protestant from Boston who served 18 months in prison for his help flying weapons to Jews in Palestine, fighting for what would later become Israel. Winters received no money for his clandestine work. Charles did it as a favor for his Jewish friends.
Now, nearly 25 years after his father's death, his son is working on a presidential pardon for his father.
After World War II, Charles Winters got into the airplane business, buying decommissioned military cargo airplanes and using them for shipping fruit. In 1948, three of his planes took off from Miami for Puerto Rico on flights meant to mimic a typical produce run. The planes did stop in Puerto Rico. But they kept going, first to the Azores, then to Czechoslovakia, where they picked up weapons.
Then they flew into Palestine, dropping off the weapons and the airplanes. Months later, someone turned Winters in. Charles Winters was convicted under the U.S. Neutrality Act and spent 18 months in prison.
Charles Winters died in 1984 at 71. His son Jimmy was 19. ''When he died, the funeral parlor was full of Israeli flags and blue and white flowers. This Israeli official came to escort my mom back to Israel for a ceremony there,'' Jimmy said. "And I thought, 'Wow, this is big time.' At that point, I realized how important he was.''
Charles Winters was a Protestant from Boston who served 18 months in prison for his help flying weapons to Jews in Palestine, fighting for what would later become Israel. Winters received no money for his clandestine work. Charles did it as a favor for his Jewish friends.
Now, nearly 25 years after his father's death, his son is working on a presidential pardon for his father.
After World War II, Charles Winters got into the airplane business, buying decommissioned military cargo airplanes and using them for shipping fruit. In 1948, three of his planes took off from Miami for Puerto Rico on flights meant to mimic a typical produce run. The planes did stop in Puerto Rico. But they kept going, first to the Azores, then to Czechoslovakia, where they picked up weapons.
Then they flew into Palestine, dropping off the weapons and the airplanes. Months later, someone turned Winters in. Charles Winters was convicted under the U.S. Neutrality Act and spent 18 months in prison.
Charles Winters died in 1984 at 71. His son Jimmy was 19. ''When he died, the funeral parlor was full of Israeli flags and blue and white flowers. This Israeli official came to escort my mom back to Israel for a ceremony there,'' Jimmy said. "And I thought, 'Wow, this is big time.' At that point, I realized how important he was.''
"It would make a great movie.''
(Miami Herald)
UPDATE:
Bush pardons man who helped Israel during wartime -Deb Reichmann
In a gesture of forgiveness for a decades-old offense, President George W. Bush granted a pardon posthumously to a man who broke the law to supply aircraft to Jews fighting in Israel's 1948 war of independence.
[Associated Press]
(Miami Herald)
UPDATE:
Bush pardons man who helped Israel during wartime -Deb Reichmann
In a gesture of forgiveness for a decades-old offense, President George W. Bush granted a pardon posthumously to a man who broke the law to supply aircraft to Jews fighting in Israel's 1948 war of independence.
[Associated Press]
4 comments:
It's a tough one because he did break the law under the neutrality act. Given his selfless purpose and the role he played, his sentence was rather harsh, and he deserved his Presidential pardon back while he still lived. It sounds like it would indeed make a great movie.
The neutrality act stood in stark contrast to the quick recognition of Israel in 1948.
The message seems to have cut both ways:
1. welcome to the world stage
2. you probably won't be on the world stage for long, as we will not help you fight multiple Arab armies
In any case, an overdue pardon, and [as you point out] a great movie to be made. The son has lined up bipartisan support for the pardon and done his political homework.
Bush should certainly be the right President for this pardon. He should love Charles Winters cowboy ways!!!
Ha! Cute.
Post a Comment