Arnaldo Martinez knows the price of freedom.

As a frightened boy, Arnaldo boarded a plane with his sister in Havana, Cuba, in September 1961 headed for Miami – without their parents.

“Parents started getting very concerned about the communists breaking up the family units and indoctrinating the children, so they were kind of forced to send my sister, Miriam, who was 13 at the time, and I was 10 at the time, and we came here, by ourselves,” Martinez said. “It was nerve-wracking.”

Arnaldo Martinez is an Alabama Power Unsung Hero from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

In 1961, rumors spread throughout Cuba that Fidel Castro’s regime would soon put all children in communist indoctrination camps. The Catholic Church quickly joined concerned parents to obtain student visas in a clandestine operation called “Operation Peter Pan.”

“Officially, we were leaving to study in the United States, but everybody knew we weren’t coming back,” Martinez said. “The worst part was not knowing when we’d be back together.”

They did reunite – 10 months later, but not before Martinez and his sister were flown to a children’s home in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I finished the sixth grade and then we returned to Miami to be reunited with our parents,” he said. “My dad wanted to stay in Miami, where it was warmer, for my mother’s health.”

The parents of Arnaldo Martinez (left and center) immigrated to the United States 10 months after Martinez and his sister immigrated. (contributed)

Arnaldo Martinez boarded a plane in Havana, Cuba, in September 1961 headed for Miami – without his parents. (contributed)

Arnaldo takes his first Catholic communion in May 1959. (contributed)

Arnaldo and his sister, Miriam, pose in a park near their home in Cuba. (contributed)

Arnaldo’s father was a lawyer and his mother was a stenographer in the Cuban Senate. (contributed)

Arnaldo traveled to the United States under a student visa obtained by the Catholic Church during Operation Peter Pan. (contributed)

Arnaldo has worked at Alabama Power since January 1978. (contributed)

After high school and junior college, Martinez moved to Gainesville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida. He then moved to Mobile, where he worked for a short time at International Paper before being hired by Alabama Power.

“I began working for Alabama Power in January 1978,” Martinez said. “Electricity had always been intriguing to me.”

Martinez has spent much of the past 43 years working in Alabama Power’s Transmission Maintenance Center. As a Substations team leader, Martinez and his crew are responsible for maintaining and operating approximately 250 substations across southwest Alabama.

“When I think about Arnaldo, three things initially come to mind, and that’s faith, family and work,” said Alabama Power Area Transmission Maintenance Manager Dee Anne Odom. “Sometimes we deal with some high-stress situations and he remains cool under pressure. The company and the world would be a better place if there were more people like Arnaldo.”

Martinez, who plans to retire later this year, says the people he works with and the customers he serves are the best part of the job.

“I value the relationships that we make and the teamwork, particularly,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of teamwork during storms and just on a daily basis.”

Former Alabama Power employee Estelle Cox contributed to this report.