The news from Haiti was dire: government collapse, gangs in the streets, shooting victims left to rot, kidnappings and ransom demands, missionaries and aid workers hiding from the carnage.
When pleas for help from the U.S. government were rebuffed, two Florida Knights of Columbus came to the rescue with a daring midnight helicopter rescue of 10 aid workers: noted American columnist and author Mitch Albom, his wife and eight volunteers at a Port-au-Prince orphanage.
Albom, who wrote movingly of caring for a Haitian orphan in Finding Chika and his best-selling memoir Tuesdays With Morrie, was unable to flee the unrest or get help until reaching out to Florida congressman Cory Mills.
Mills, who served in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division from 1999 to 2004, personally mounted an overland rescue of a family of four from Afghanistan during the chaotic American withdrawal in 2021. This time, he turned for help to Anthony Marinello, owner of Tropic Air Charters in Fort Lauderdale. And Marinello, a former Army First Sergeant and New Jersey State Police helicopter pilot, enlisted his friend with a similar service and pilot background, Benny Matos of Jupiter.
Marinello and Matos, both members of the Knights of Columbus, agreed to pilot a Tropic Air helicopter for the rescue mission to Haiti March 11, quickly settling on a high-risk night flight over the border from the Dominican Republic.
“When I heard American citizens and orphans, I knew I had to go,” Matos recalled.
They timed their run to be over Port-au-Prince at 3 a.m. Flying above cloud cover until the last moment, they dove down to skim rooftops looking for the target building flashing pre-arranged signal lights, hoping the deafening noise and low altitude would confound any belligerents. They quickly slid-landed in front of the orphanage and scrambled to help the 10 on board, barely meeting weight limits. They were back in the air in two minutes.
“The bad guys wouldn’t have time to put on their shoes before we were gone,” Marinello said.
Back again above the clouds, they put down in an abandoned airfield in the Dominican Republic, where Congressman Mills and Special Forces veteran Brian Young and the passengers – including a Canadian and Frenchman -- deplaned to catch commercial flights back to the States.
Oblivious to his passenger’s notoriety at the time, Marinello recalled Albom shaking hands on his way out. “Hi, I’m Mitch, he said. Hi, I’m Tony, I replied.”
Matos, who is a financial field agent for the Knights since moving to Florida and was ordained to the Catholic permanent diaconate in 2023, noted Mills’ rosary arm tatoo when they met. “I opened my shirt to show him the rosary I wore around my neck,” Matos said. “We have that in common.”
Mills called on Matos to pray with the group before takeoff.
The dramatic rescue was followed by stories in the Detroit newspapers, where Albom lives, and the Washington Post. But the pilots went unrecognized. Marinello, who is using the former military helicopter to mount an airborne ambulance service to the Bahamas, said he’s received more requests for help from Haiti, but doubts that a second run could be as successful.
“Next time, the bad guys would be ready for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Haiti March 16 announced plans to help other Americans escape Haiti and Florida Gov. Ron Desantis arranged for chartered flights .
Postscript: Marinello apparently had a change of mind. On March 20, he and Matos returned to Haiti and rescued another 14 Americans – eight children and six adults. This time Matos had to fight off two men who tried to stop him from returning to the helicopter before takeoff.
Matos is a KofC field agent for Council 4955. Marinello has transferred to 4955.
They were honored guests at the council’s St. Patrick Dinner Dance March 16 at St. Ambrose Church in Deerfield Beach.
Photo Caption: Knights Anthony Marinello, left, and Benny Matos, center rear, piloted a Tropic Air Rescue helicopter into Haiti March 20 to rescue 14 stranded Americans. They were able to board another rescue flight to Sanford.
