On 3-13-1928, Manuel A. Mendoza was born in San Pedro de Macorís, where he grew up poor with his tailor father and his housewife mother. Manuel was a shy kid, kept mostly to himself. He had no toys, but liked airplanes and dreamed of becoming a pilot. He did not have military experience, but he developed a hobby of building small wood model airplanes. He loved aviation history and aviation books. He loved America and admired American Presidents, especially George Herbert Walker Bush, who was a World War ll pilot, who was shot down an was rescued in 1944. Inspired by that event, Manuel built, and along with a letter of explanation, mailed to President Bush a model replica of the Avenger fighter plane the President flew, an American torpedo bomber, the world’s deadliest aircraft that first saw action in the Battle of Midway against the Japanese. The Grumman TBF Avenger had three machine guns with 50 mm sized bullets and was built to “avenge” the devastated American fleet by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor (12-7-1941).

Manuel was a peaceful, loving, proud, easy going, funny, and dedicated family man. He loved and supported his family and he believed in the importance of education, values, and belief in God. Manuel was always well groomed and well dressed. He loved to dance salsa music, read history books, enjoyed playing checkers, and he loved and built many wood model airplanes.

I’m 1955, at age 27, he traveled to the Panamá Canal Zone, where he completed an intensive training in cartography (map making) and in draftsmanship, and he was extremely skilled in his crafts.

Manuel and our mom, Belén (May she Rest In Peace), had 4 children: Victor, Rafael, Ramon, and Grace. Like any parent, they dreamed of a great future for their children. But my father saw no great future potential in the Dominican Republic, where Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina had been the strong hand brutal dictator since 1930. Manuel was vehemently opposed to the Trujillo regime, for all the blood shed by innocent people, who disappeared and were killed, and whose only “crime” was disagreeing with the government. Wanting to escape the claws of the Dictator and to leave the country, Manuel attempted to seek political asylum at the Mexican Embassy in Santo Domingo, but he was denied admission to file a claim. As he left the Embassy building, he was immediately detained and questioned by Trujillo’s secret police. He was arrested and taken to the infamous “La 40” jail. So he became another of thousands of political prisoners. Even our mom, along with the 4 children, were taken to La 40, where she was questioned for an entire day—of course, she denied knowing any details of my father’s plan to flee the country and we were returned home at the end of the day.

Days later, Manuel and other political prisoners were taken by boat to a prison camp, a small island by the name of Beata Island, off the southern coast of Santo Domingo. Along with other prisoners, Manuel was routinely and severely tortured as revenge and payment for being against the Trujillo machine. Using batons and electrified weapons that were even used on their genitalia and other parts of their bodies, they were often bloodied and beaten unconscious.

The prisoners were only fed cornmeal that had developed worms; they lost weight and were barely kept alive. Although Manuel survived 6 months of imprisonment, others who were severely beaten and were near death were loaded and taken out to sea on a small boat and fed to the sharks. Manuel did not think that he would survive the harrowing experience and thought that he would never see his family again.

After the 1961 Trujillo assassination, possibly due to either the United Nations or American pressure and intervention, all political prisoners were finally freed! My father was sent home wearing the same clothes that he wore when he was first detained. Wasting no time, he applied for a U.S. travel visa and immediately sought refuge in the countryside with relatives, outside Santo Domingo, as he knew and later confirmed that Trujillo’s henchmen were again looking for him.

I’m 1962, Manuel finally saw freedom and he traveled to the United States to flee the nightmarish political life and the assassins that almost ended his life and dreams. He was received by my aunt and he soon found employment at the Port of Newark, loading and unloading trucks. In March of 1963, having saved enough money, he sent for our mom and the 4 children. We came to Manhattan, New York City, where we settled and lived together as a family in freedom.

Manuel was a warrior, a freedom fighter, who did not give up, and stood by his family. He worked a variety of jobs and developed various work skills to make extra income. I remember one of his jobs as a furniture delivery man in the Bronx, where he learned to install carpeting and floor linoleum. In his spare time, he drove a taxi. In due time, he learned English and became an American citizen of the country he adopted and loved.

Manuel eventually applied for and was hired as a draftsman and cartographer map maker, his favorite career. Due to his strong work ethic, he was promoted to Section Chief at Andrews and Clark, Consulting Engineers company in New York. In contrast to the negative and brutal political experience lived in the DR, Manuel finally came full circle, achieved the American Dream, working doing what he loved to do in a country of freedom and limitless opportunities.
As a result if immigrating to the U.S., the many heavenly blessings that he received were also shared with his family.
After the death of our mom in 1981, Manuel later remarried and moved to Florida, where his children had moved to from New York. On August 10, 2019, at 6:55 pm, Manuel passed away peacefully at the age of 91. May he Rest In Peace In God’s loving arms.

A gathering of a family and friends will take place on Friday, September 6, 2019, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. with a Tribute of a Lifetime Service at 7:00 p.m. at Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care, University Drive Chapel.