HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — One of the original members of Brothers to the Rescue, a group that saved those fleeing from the Castro regime in Cuba, is now paying tribute to those who lost their lives through humanitarian flights.
- Former 'Brothers to the Rescue' pilot paying it forward
- Rey Martin started nonprofit in honor of fallen brothers
- Nonprofit providing aid to the Bahamas
Rey Martin will never forget the first time he saw a plane.
“We’re running through grass and I came upon these two engines running and I didn’t know, I’d never seen an aircraft before,” he recalled.
That plane helped his family escape Castro’s Cuba, sparking his lifelong love for aviation.
“I think aviation, there’s always a need for helping others,” Martin said.
It led him to join the civil air patrol where he learned to fly, and eventually began using his skills for humanitarian aid.
“We formed the group Brothers to the Rescue, Hermanos al Rescate, and I flew with them constantly,” he said.
Martin went on 185 missions, some of them quite dangerous.
The pilots were often chased by Cuban fighter jets as they rescued rafters.
On February 24, 1996, the missions turned deadly, when two Brothers to the Rescue planes were shot down by the Cuban military, killing four pilots.
Two of them, Carlos Costa and Mario De La Pena, were Martin's good friends.
Martin was supposed to be on the flight but missed it.
“Personally, I thought that if I had been there I might have been able to do something different,” he said.
It's why he started a nonprofit in their honor, the Charlie-Mike Regional Aviation Disaster Relief Group, named after their call signs.
Their legacy now lives on in the Bahamas.
Martin has enlisted the help of several volunteer pilots from the Tampa Bay Area.
So far, they have gone on a total of 14 flights as they deliver supplies and medical help to the island.
“It was awesome to be able to use something that we’re passionate about, that we enjoy doing, to benefit others,” Pilot Kyle Lee said.
Currently, they are focusing on sending building supplies to the areas most affected by Hurricane Dorian.
The group has been a huge help to Tampa resident Cyle Hepburn who’s originally from the Bahamas.
Thanks to Martin and the team of pilots, Hepburn’s organization was able to send supplies to his homeland right away.
“It’s sort of a blessing. We didn’t know how we were going to get there because we have the goods,” Hepburn said.
After all, it's what Carlos and Mario would be doing.
“I felt good about doing something for them you know, being that they gave their lives to help others,” Martin said.