Establishing the Israeli Airforce- Pee-Eee Herman’s Father
Looks can be deceiving! Who could have guessed that Pee-Wee Herman’s father was a military hero?
Paul Reubens’s father flew combat missions during World War II for both the US Army and the Royal Air Force long before Paul was born. Milton Rubenfeld was later recruited to fly missions for Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War after World War II ended.
As such he became one of the founding members of the Israeli Air Force. It was a modest start but a start nonetheless, with four airplanes and five pilots. They flew towards the Egyptian lines and engaged the enemy in a surprise attack in May 1948 when Rubenfeld’s aircraft was shot down. However, his expert skills and fast thinking allowed him to bail out over the Mediterranean Sea where, despite his numerous heavy injuries, managed to swim to safety.
Talk about courage and resilience, right?!
