who led a secret operation during the late 1940s to fly more than 40,000 Jewish refugees from Yemen to Israel, soon after the Jewish state was created. Maguire, who made 380 flights over hostile Arab territory over the course of more than a year to complete Operation Magic Carpet, died on June 10 at his Northridge home. He was 94.
“He was a wonderful guy. That’s one thing we could say for sure,” Daniel said. “Very bright, very good to his friends, very good to everybody, actually.”
Maguire and crew were often shot at by Egyptian forces as they made the 1,400-mile trip from the southern tip of Yemen to Tel Aviv, a massive transport of refugees that earned Maguire his nickname “the Irish Moses.” The pilot was forced to fly dangerously low to the ground to avoid being detected by Arab nations hankering to take down Maguire’s DC-4 “Spirit of Freedom” aircraft.
“Somebody had to have explained to him the subjugation of these Jews in Yemen. He knew everything about what he was doing, he knew he was saving these people,” said Lynn Weiner, an embedded journalist who flew with Maguire on some of his secret flights.
The afternoon tribute had a surprisingly lighthearted milieu, as attendees — who sat under the hot summer sun on white fold-out chairs set up along the runway — mostly laughed and shared old stories about Maguire before the ceremony got under way.
“I’m from Coosbay, Oregon, and, well, it was just boring but Uncle Bob was exciting. He was the most exciting because he would just fly in from wherever he was in the world and he always had good stories to tell,” said Kathleen Bomke, Maguire’s niece.
Guests were welcomed by Maguire’s son, Robert Maguire III, who spoke glowingly of his father on a stage adorned with an American flag and an Israeli flag planted side-by-side. The day’s speakers also included Weiner and Rabbi Marvin Hier, who presented Maguire’s son with the U.S. Ambassador’s Honor award for his father’s involvement in Operation Magic Carpet and Operation Ali Baba, a subsequent mission that lifted Jews from Iran and Iraq to Israel. Ehud Danoch, the consul general of Israel and son of two Yemenite refugees Maguire airlifted, also attended, but did not speak.
The DC-4 airplane Maguire used to airlift the Jewish refugees landed near the ceremony stage, as two bagpipers blasted traditional Irish melodies and attendees broke out into applause.
Maguire, born in Portland, Oregon, in 1911, attended Reed College and the University of Oregon. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and fought in the Pacific region during World War II. Maguire later went on to work for Alaska Airlines, which was awarded a contract to fly Jewish refugees from around the world to newly created Israel. After the airline was forced to give up the contract, Maguire took it upon himself to hire pilots, commission planes and start his own airline to airlift refugees into Israel.
“He wasn’t afraid to step in and do something,” said Larry Bomke, who met Maguire after marrying his niece. “That showed what kind of guy he was. He stepped in and said ‘if the airline’s not gonna get it done, I’ll get it done.’”
Maguire, in order to avoid enemy radar, was forced to fly without the aid of his radio — instead depending solely on maps and careful timing. Maguire was eventually able to gauge the arrival time of the multi-hour flight to within 12 seconds, Weiner said.
The pilot transferred 40,000 Yemenite refugees without a single death, though Maguire did avoid some close calls with the enemy. During one flight, Maguire’s plane ran out of fuel over Egypt — a nation that often fired on the refugee-packing flights — forcing him to land. Egyptian officials who rushed the cockpit ready to detain all on board were stopped cold when Maguire warned he had small pox-ridden passengers on board.
The fabricated warning persuaded Egyptian officials, who had put a 25,000-pound bounty on Maguire’s head, to allow his crew to refuel and continue their flight to the Jewish homeland.
Maguire later went on to become the president of a Los Angeles-based real estate firm.
His friends remembered Maguire as a deeply spiritual man, who put others before himself.
“There are certain individuals who are once in a lifetime,” said Norman Decker, who worked with Maguire in real estate for about 40 years. “Bob was one of those.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2005. Read the original PDF.