“What is your name?” . . . “They call me Toby,” he said.
She thanked him as he swam off into the darkness, and that was the last
my mother saw of him.
My Parents Survived Flying Tiger 923
By Juan Figueroa Jr.
My parents, Capt. Juan G. Figueroa, MD and Carmen Figueroa, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, survived this accident. It was an accident that has always been the story of their lives. I grew up listening to their stories and looking at the pictures and magazines that they collected through the years.
When my brother and I were kids our parents were invited to a TV show in Puerto Rico. My brother and I were allowed to join our parents while they answered questions and told their stories. The name of the show was “El Show de Tommy”. I’ve always wished for a copy of the show but have been able to obtain one.
My father’s experience was reported extensively in an earlier post, so in this writing I will emphasize my mother’s experience.
Carmen Figueroa
Immediately after impact, my mother, Carmen, jumped into the open ocean. It was of course in the dark of night and a gale-force storm was raging. High waves and wind moved her away from the remains of the sinking airplane into what felt to her like a vast pit of total darkness. She was completely disoriented and alone.
Out of nowhere, a young fellow came swimming toward my mother. He called to her loudly and confidently, “Follow me, swim this way!”
My mother asks, “Where is the raft!” He answers in a commanding voice, “The raft is this way, follow me.”
She shouts, “How do you know?” He says loudly, “Trust me, follow me. I know.”
My mother followed him into what she said was pitch darkness — nothing to be seen or heard. After a few minutes of swimming in the dark, she told me that she started hearing voices, people crying and yelling … and there is the raft! She was almost there.
My mother said she asked the man, “What is your name?”
“They call me Toby.”
She thanked Toby as he swam off into the darkness and that was the last she saw of him.
Carmen Figueroa Helped off Ship
After the rescue my parents searched through the entire passenger list and found no one named Toby or Tobias. They asked all of the survivors if they knew of a ‘Toby.’ It was a total mystery. No Toby or Tobias.
And my mother has always wondered, “Why would someone swim away from safety, into pitch darkness, to rescue me? How could anyone see me? How could Toby know which way to swim?” It is a mystery never to be solved.
Another twist to my parent’s story is that at exactly the time of impact of the Flying Tiger into the sea, my grandfather (father’s father) woke up in the middle of the night and called my uncle on the phone. He told my uncle that something terribly wrong has happened to my parents.
My uncle called my father’s Air Force base. It took quite a few tries, but finally he spoke with someone who knew about flight 923. He was told that the flight departed and that it was on its way to Germany and when it was scheduled to arrive in Frankfurt. The person on the other end of the line had no idea that anything out of the ordinary might have happened.
Our family has always been amazed at this fact that my grandfather woke at that specific moment in time (the time of the crash) and felt something very serious had happened.
I believe there must be another dimension to our existence which brings us these kind of events and experiences that we cannot explain. I was born nine months after this accident. My parents adopted me, and my mother passed away (cancer) when I was finishing high school. I found my birth mother in the early 90’s. It’s been a beautiful life.
I know I will be shaking hands with Toby one day in the future, in this world or the next one to come. “Thanks Toby, for saving my mother Carmen Figueroa.”
(Note: Juan Jr. is a commercial airline pilot and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Flying Tiger 923 
There is more to this story. My Aunt Carmen said she did not have the strength to get out of the raft as she was exhausted. She prayed out loud to St. Jude, the saint of the impossible. Toby heard her and then he went silently underwater to push her onto the raft. As he did this to save her, he again disappeared into the darkness. Was he real? Did he use his last strength to save her and then drowned? But then, how do you explain the non existence of a Toby or Tobias on the passenger manifesto? I will never forget Titi Carmen, a strong woman of faith and determination.
Is it possible that the young man said his name was “Bobby”? My uncle was a paratrooper on that flight. His name is Robert Dawkins but all of our family call him “Bobby”. He won’t talk about it but once he told me about the crash and how swam around looking and helped survivors and his paratrooper buddies. He got very emotional when he told me about a friend who he saw in the water but by the time he got to where he was he was gone. It still bothers him that he could not save him.
Hi
I have some photos of survivors on-board the Swiss ship
Do you have one of your Uncle? I might have one of him
(My book about Flight 923 comes out next year)
Eric Lindner
My Uncle is the black trooper in the middle of the back row here https://flyingtiger923.com/2012/04/12/who-is-in-the-photo/ My mother may have a recent picture.
Hi duluthelite,
I’ve been meaning to respond to your message for a long time, and I’m finally able to gather my thoughts and reply. Your uncle is indeed a true hero, no doubt about it. You are very lucky to have him in your life; the same for me, I’m very lucky to have my parents miraculously survive this accident. Pointing out the similarities between the names ‘Toby’ and ‘Bobby’ is remarkable. However, there is much more to the story, especially while on the Celerina and afterwards.
You see, my mother Carmen said to me she made a tremendous effort to find the person that saved her life while on the Celerina and also afterwards while back home in the USA. Your uncle is the tallest and perhaps strongest of all depicted in the group picture, good looking, handsome man. As you can see in this same picture my mother is near an arms length in front of your uncle. I think my mother, while looking on the Celerina for ‘Toby, ‘ the person who saved her, would have encountered your uncle in her quest. Think of this, your uncle is watching this lady asking for a ‘Toby’ that saved her life in order to thank him. Would your uncle keep this heroic performance to himself and not allow my mother to thank him? Maybe, he could have said, ‘My name is not ‘Toby,‘ but I’m ‘Bobby’ and I did help a few passengers into the raft (last night.)’ It is possible that he was very humble and/or shy, but there is more…
Even under all the darkness and confusion, this rescue lasted not for a few seconds but for a while. This must have been for quite a few minutes, long enough to have a conversation taking place. This I know because my mother said she was asking questions and Toby was giving her answers. That Toby was constantly encouraging her to swim in “this” direction, ‘reassuring’ her that they were swimming towards the raft. There was nothing to be seen or heard from the raft or the airplane. My mother was completely disoriented while in these rough seas. As a matter of fact she was already alone and disoriented when Toby swam towards her and she always wondered how anyone was able to find her. There was interaction between the two; and again, given the stature and physical uniqueness of your uncle, at least a few attributes would have stuck with my mother about the person that (just) saved her life. The fact that Toby and Bobby are the same person is within the realm of possibilities, of course. But the circumstantial, especially on my mother’s efforts to try to find who rescue her and not finding him (although an arms length in a picture away from your uncle,) plus not one single spark of recognition from one another while on the Celerina -the ‘Toby’/‘Bobby’ possibility doesn’t add up.
The tragedy and surreal unexplained experiences that happened just before impact and for the first hour or so afterwards are truly amazing. My father has always been amazed on ‘how many’ small (and necessary) details at every stage of this event paved the way to their rescue and survival. The gross imperfection of a failing airplane and a ditching in the dark in the North Atlantic vs the incredible timely orchestration of details each one intrinsic and necessary for the other is amazing. [BTW my father is still alive, in his 90s and cognitively doing well, he was a guest/participant at the aviation queries in Washington, DC after the accident and provided important information for the investigation. Just as an FYI for researchers in general, if there is any ongoing research about this accident, my father is still a great asset and would be happy to assist.]
One last closing thought to consider, there was a soldier that was not good at swimming that was clinging on another, making the good swimmer soldier almost drawn. The good swimmer soldier struggled with the other to safe his life. There is also an out of body experience narrative within the chapters of this website. All these unusual ‘coincidences’ and ‘extremes’ reminds me of when science tries to explain some phenomena as in a time/space ‘vortex’ or such. In my most humble opinion, and not much as science or science fiction, and for those who ‘believe’ like my mother and myself, these more than likely were God’s fingerprints and those of His helpers in action.
Correction
The statement:
“…he was a guest/participant at the aviation queries in Washington, DC after the accident and provided important information for the investigation.”
should read,
“…he was a guest/participant at the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) hearings near what is today ‘John F. Kennedy Airport’ (JFK) (formerly known as ‘New York International Airport’) at the International Hotel on November 14,1962, and provided important information for the investigation.”
Check if Edward Apanel would know who Tobyvwas from her story