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181:, commending him for his efforts and inviting him to the opening of a new memorial in Israel. Winters lived the rest of his life in Miami, where he founded an export firm. He died there October 30, 1984 and his ashes were buried in the Alliance International Cemetery in Jerusalem's "German Colony," next to
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Winters' lawyer, Wilmer Hale partner
Reginald Brown, stated, "He did a heroic thing and, at the time, the law didn't reflect our values. The pardon is a way of the law catching up with the history." His son James responded to the pardon, saying, "This is a present for my father...It was a monumental
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At the time of his death, Winters was married to the former Joan
Babineau and had two children with her, Lisa and James (Jimi). His sons Charles Todd and Charles Jr. were from previous marriages. He never told his children about his smuggling or prison time, and his son Jimi recounted that the first
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in conspiring to smuggle three bombers via
Czechoslovakia to Palestine. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $ 5,0000. Winters was released from prison on November 17, 1949. Schwimmer, while convicted, was not sentenced to prison, and was pardoned by President
112:, known as the father of the Israeli air force, enlisted Winters in his efforts to supply aircraft to Jewish fighters in Israel; with his government experience, Winters managed to smuggle three B-17 bombers to Israel. Taking off from Miami, the two B-17s refueled in
380:
Moskovitz, Diana (2008-08-31). "HISTORY: Pardon sought for dad's aid to Israel - 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". Miami
217:, who led the congressional group, commented that "President Bush made the right decision today to issue a posthumous pardon to Charles Winters, a Florida resident who played an essential role in the creation of the state of Israel."
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The three bombers smuggled by
Winters were the only heavy bombers in the Israeli Air Force during the war, but reportedly helped turned the tide of war in Israel's favor. In his diary on July 16, 1948,
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Winters entered the produce export business after the war, buying decommissioned military cargo planes that were being used to transport fruits and vegetables. A friend and flight engineer named
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hint he ever had of something in his father's past was when his father admitted to him that he couldn't buy a gun. In 1961 he received a letter from then
Foreign Affairs Minister
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124:'s first heavy bombers. Winters was said to have decided to help supply the Israeli forces as a favor to his Jewish friends, and received no monetary compensation for the work.
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Winters' son James, along with his close childhood friend Frank
Jimenez, began campaigning for his father's pardon after his death, receiving the support of, among others, 21
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challenge, but my dad used to always say 'Keep the faith,' and we did". Winters' pardon constituted the first posthumous pardon since
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in the late 1940s. Of the small handful of
Americans prosecuted for aiding Israel in the 1948 war, only Winters served time in prison.
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in 2000. Another man in the operation, Herman
Greenspun, was also convicted with no prison time, and pardoned in 1961 by President
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noted their arrival in Israel, and mentioned that they had already been used for several bombing runs in
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503:"Pardons Granted by President William J. Clinton (1993-2001) | PARDON | Department of Justice"
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and
Czechoslovakia; a third B-17 joined the group in Czechoslovakia. They constituted the newly created
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29:(February 10, 1913 – October 29, 1984) was an American businessman who volunteered during the
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213:. President Bush officially pardoned Winters on December 23, 2008. Democratic Representative
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struck him at an early age, leaving him with a limp. Because of this handicap, the
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https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/BushLegacy/story?id=6519124&page=1#.Tz15AIHgwrg
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315:"Bush pardons American who sent B-17 bombers to Israel during independence war"
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33:. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $ 5,000 for violating the
543:"Bush pardons include Miami man who helped in the struggle to create Israel"
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299:"CHARLES WINTERS, 71, AIDED BIRTH OF ISRAEL". Miami Herald. 1984-11-01.
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Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
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Winters was subsequently prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney in
570:. American Jewish Committee. 2008-12-23. Archived from
345:"Pardon granted to man who flew planes to Israel]"
568:"AJC Welcomes Presidential Pardon of Charles Winters"
593:"Bush pardons man who helped Israel during wartime"
424:"Bush pardons man who helped Israel during wartime"
140:of the Israeli Air Force, known as the "Hammers".
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474:"Jailed for Aiding Israel, but Pardoned by Bush"
452:. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 188.
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660:American people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
317:. Macleans. Associated Press. Archived from
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172:Gravestone of Charles Winters in Jerusalem
347:. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2008-12-23.
245:List of people pardoned by George W. Bush
527:Bush pardons 19, commutes 1 prison term.
529:Dec. 23, 2008. Retrieved Dec. 25, 2008.
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21:Charles Winters (disambiguation)
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64:Winters, the Protestant son of
472:Lichtblau, Eric (2008-12-23).
48:Winters received a posthumous
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422:Reichmann, Deb (2008-12-23).
313:Riechmann, Deb (2008-12-23).
263:Herald, Boston (2008-12-26).
104:Israeli B-17s in flight, 1953
545:. Miami Herald. 2008-12-23.
37:after helping smuggle three
655:American Christian Zionists
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450:Israel: A Personal History
448:Ben-Gurion, David (1971).
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675:Businesspeople from Miami
265:"History's hero pardoned"
207:American Jewish Committee
426:. Yahoo!. Archived from
400:. BBC News. 2008-12-24.
78:Brookline, Massachusetts
27:Charles Thompson Winters
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149:Neutrality Act of 1939
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56:on December 23, 2008.
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251:References
179:Golda Meir
164:Later life
60:Early life
225:in 1999.
215:Ron Klein
183:Jerusalem
96:Smuggling
80:in 1913.
547:Archived
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349:Archived
229:See also
70:Canadian
381:Herald.
209:, and
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197:Pardon
118:Azores
66:Scotch
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43:Israel
145:Miami
134:Egypt
82:Polio
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