ROBERT MANSON

Robert's story began with his mother, Annette Castellino Manson, a parent raising six boys on her own: Peter, Harold, Richard, Robert, John, and Butchie. Annette came from Italy to the United States when she was three years of age and her mother died. So Annette and her two brothers were raised in a Catholic orphanage in Brooklyn, New York, and stayed there until they were 18 years old.

Bob started toward his military career in the reserves at Valley Stream Central High in Long Island NY from 1951 – 1954. He began active duty in 1954 during the Korean War.

Bob went to boot camp at Fort Dix in New Jersey. After boot camp, Bob began his trip home on leave. Halfway through his leave, he got sick. On his way back to base, he was waiting for his ride home at Grand Central Station and he passed out. When he woke, he was in the St. Albans Naval Hospital. He lost consciousness again and woke up in Army Hospital in New Jersey and was there for 6 months. Once he maintained consciousness, they sent him to Fort Lewis in Seattle, Washington. Medically he still wasn't right...so they decided to send him to the Ladd AFB in Alaska.

Duties were as any other army guy...he was assigned a 105 Hallister. There's no recoil but the noise was loud. One job assignment was from a colonel who said, "Private Manson, I want you to camouflage the jeep and have it hidden." So Bob did that and hiding the jeep, he sat in the jeep lengthwise and fell asleep. By the time he awoke, the jeep was covered in snow and his troop was trying to find him. When they finally found him, he was so hungry he went to the mess tent to get something to eat.

Bob was stationed in Alaska for a year and three months until 1956. He met Frank Bergoli, another Post 164 member, at Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Bob learned how to ski and he worked at USO, flipping hamburgers. They would often go downtown with the guys and tried to help the Eskimos. It was a very sad life they led...like the Indians...forgotten people. It was dark like night when the little ones would go to school...because in Alaska, there was no sun. After Bob's discharge in 1956, he had a six year commitment of inactive service.

When Bob returned home, he and his brother bought a gas station business. His oldest brother bought into a Chevrolet dealership.

Once Bob was out of the service, he went to aviation mechanics school to be licensed for an airline for three years and then flight school to get his transport license for 3-1/2 years. During that time he was working and no matter where he went to school, he studied for his Airline Transport license and A&P (airframe and power plant). In order to get a mechanic's certificate with appropriate rating from the FAA, you can perform aviation related work with a power plant rating and airframe rating. When he got his license, he wan Pan American which an international carrier. Pan American offered Bob a job as a mechanic at JFK Airport. Bob started at Pan American in 1958 as a mechanic, then became a supervisor of maintenance and finally a pilot. It was a proud day in his life. Everyone at Pan American was wonderful to him.

The Chief Pilot of Pan American encouraged him to become a pilot Bob began working for Pan American on an engine change crew where he went all over the world. Then Bob became a supervisor of 10-man licensed mechanic crew. The Director of Pan American maintenance started at JFK and then moved the operations to Westchester, NY.

Bob became a pilot and flew for 2 years when they shut down. As a pilot, Bob began ferrying airplanes from France to the United States and all over Europe. Pan American had 120,000 employees, so when they closed, everyone lost their job. Bob was 12 years with Pan American. At that time, there were only 3,000 that were both pilots and mechanics.

Bob got a couple of jobs flying for corporate...one was Mobil and then Mobil moved to Texas. Bob and his family stayed in New York until a job opportunity came up in Hawaii as a pilot for Hemmeter Aviation. They owned 80% of hotels in Hawaii. The company also had a little airline that would fly from island to island. Hawaii started a mechanic school of A&P mechanics. When he left there, the school was booming. One famous passenger Bob remembers having was the singer, Madonna.

Bob remembers hearing about the accident in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines, Flight 243 took off from Hilo to Honolulu. When the plane reached 24,000 feet a small section on the left side of the roof ruptured. The door to the cockpit was gone and blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been. The resulting explosive decompression tore off a large section of the roof. The plane had 95 passengers, eight seriously injuries and one flight attendant was thrown out of the plane...her body was never found.

Hemmeter Aviation sold, so Bob's next stop was Florida. He began working for a sugar company called Osceola Farms as a Director of Maintenance and filled in as a pilot. Five years later he was working for a Jack Hutchings, a self-made millionaire in Fort Lauderdale, at S&H Fabricating and Engineering, taking care of his airplanes. Jack recently died at the age of 79 and his company was sold for 10 million. Jack lived on inter-coastal in a mansion often referred to as the 'white house'. Bob and Sharon were invited to Christmas parties...often entertained by a band and decorated with four Christmas trees.

A native of Pontiac, Michigan, Jack Hutchings, at the age of 16 a congenital eye disease left him partially blind. In 1968, Jack founded his first company, S&H Fabricating and Engineering and invented air conditioning in General Motors vehicles. That company became the largest automotive air conditioning company in North America.

FAMILY....

Bob's first wife was Mary and they had two children--one boy and one girl...Nina and Anthony. Anthony is a director of maintenance in Dulles and Nina is a teacher at a school in Pennsylvania. Bob has four grandchildren--two girls and two boys. Ian, Andrew, Abigail, and Ava. Anthony has two girls and Nina has two boys.

He met a beautiful woman, Sharon, at the Ark Restaurant and she was a good dancer. Bob was single for 13 years when they met in 1991 at a bar in Lantana, Florida. Sharon lived in Hartford, New York where she worked as a pediatric dental assistant. So Bob and Sharon had a long distance relationship until Sharon moved here in 1996. They got married on May 24, 1996—Bob said it was the best thing that ever happened to him. After she got their home organized, she found a job with Dr. Andrew Rogers.

Sharon has two boys named Brian and Kevin Pollack. Brian works for a cement company pre-fab and is also a taxidermist. Kevin works for General Electric and has also been in the Air Force Reserve for 16 years. He's been a Marine , in the Army, and in the Air force. Sharon has four grandchildren--3 girls and a boy. Brian has one daughter named Kala. Kevin has three children--Kelly, Katie, and Kevin Jr. Kevin is located Argyle New York, and Brian is Hartford, NY.

Bob joined American Legion Post 164 in 2013. They both retired and wanted to do something worthwhile together. Bob and Sharon did a lot of traveling--mostly cruises and visiting family. Bob has a two brothers who live in Hudson, Florida.

Bob retired at 65 and they started their own company. Part of the work included consultant work for appraisals and anything else they needed regarding airplanes...determining value, air worthiness, and repair estimates. He also sold aircraft parts.

Once he went to Austria because a plane crashed a half mile from the end of the runway--it ran out of field. A Japanese couple had rented the plane for their wedding. There was a fisherman in the lake and he saw this plane coming down. Bob said he never knew how much damage water could do to an airplane. That fisherman was able to save all four people. The father gave this fisherman a considerable reward. Bob dismantled the airplane and brought it back to the United States to salvage and sell.

One of Bob's last jobs was in Fort Lauderdale International Airport where is was the Chief of Maintenance...his private passenger was Julio Iglesias. Julio wanted to buy a G5 airplane...his son, Enrique, had a G4. So Julio decided to go to Savannah, Georgia to get an appraisal on planes. Bob told him you really can't afford this airplane—the price ranged from $15 million to $40 million. Julio didn't like hearing that, so he still bought the airplane—and had it for only six months. This plane was a Gulf Stream airplane. They are built in Savannah, Georgia and now the cost is up to $65 million. Gulf Stream airplanes burn 600 gallons an hour in comparison to a Pan American airplane that burns 600 gallons a minute! Julio loved his privacy and arranged the plane accordingly.

When Bob went for his instrument rating he realized how unprepared he was. Airline pilots need 3,500 hours to apply and it took a long time for Bob to do the hours—especially while working—which is why there's only 3000 pilots that were also certified mechanics.

While at the Legion, Bob met Frank Bergoli who started telling him things about the places they lived in Brooklyn and where Frank served that sounded very familiar to Bob. Bob and Sharon went home and looked through their pictures...and there was Frank in those pictures. So they met Frank at a Boy Scout breakfast and Bob brought the pictures and asked Frank if he recognized them. He did!

HONOR FLIGHT....

On September 10, 2016, Bob was allowed to go on an Honor Flight. Two weeks before that, Bob met Tony Vasquez, assigned as his 'Guardian' on the Honor Flight. They met Tony and his wife for breakfast and Bob received a hat, shirt, and bag. Bob had to be at the airport at 4:30 am. On board were 40 World War II veterans, 40 Korean veterans, 1 doctor and 2 paramedics. When they left the airport they did honor with water over plane.

When they landed, there were little children greeting them with roses. Bob's son met him in Washington along with his two daughters. The group went to all the monuments—Korean, WW2 Vietnam, and then went to Arlington Cemetery.

Bob's cousin, Simone P. D'Allesio "Sam" served in the U.S. Marine Corp as a Raider. He fought in the Battle of Kwajalein in the Pacific Campaign of World War II. He was one of 450 that survived that battle...out of 7500 marines. Sam retired to Delray Beach in 1989 and they were able to visit with Sam often. He died in 2014 at the age of 90. Bob described him as a marine with a flat top haircut. There was a bench at the park in Sam's honor. Sam never stopped being a marine....once a marine, always a marine...and he was loved.

For lunch that day, they went to a meal held by the Catholic Knights of Columbus There were 35 tables. There were two tables in the front and seated there were Veterans who were Jewish. One of the soldiers of that group was 94 years old and had been in the Battle of the Bulge. He sang a song in Yiddish and with his beautiful voice, he brought the house down!

The Honor Flight has four flights a year and they are running out of money. Recently the

Honor flight had rodeo to raise money for the veterans. To do so, you can donate by sending your contribution to:

Honor Flight South Florida Inc.
Post Office Box 16821
Plantation, Florida 33318

On the flight back home, they had a "Mail Call" just like every soldier had in the service. Each veteran received mail from relatives, close friends, and even school children thanking them for their service with love. It was a very touching moment for Bob.

Landing at the Palm Beach Airport, they got off the plane after a long and eventful day. They were met by the music of bag pipes, boy and girl scouts with their parents and leaders, waving flags and handing out roses.

The volunteers that worked the flight were so gracious and so loving. There was a veteran who was hospice and had served in Vietnam and was having a hard time. The woman that was his Guardian was right there for him. Everyone had wheelchairs if needed. When Bob got off plane, they put him in wheelchair. Honor Flight used to use the airport wheelchairs, but now they own their own wheelchairs.

This was a memory he will never forget and is very appreciative of the opportunity.

THANK YOU, BOB FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY AND OUR COMMUNITY!