Shuffled from embassies to courtrooms, Brandon Mendez Lynch of Fort Myers spent an entire childhood in a battle for freedom. Now as a young man of 18, he's chosen his destiny. In June, Mendez Lynch goes to the National Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He may become a pilot or a combat rescue officer. He spent a year on his application. This is a life-long dream achieved.
"He'd always been very patriotic, very caring," said his mother, Cathleen Pizzutello, of her son's aspirations. "(His teachers) saw how hungry, how focused he was … and I saw that too. I always knew he liked structure maybe because his life was so unpredictable. He wanted something with integrity, excellence, something nobler."
Mendez Lynch's story of coming to the U.S. is one immortalized on old television interviews and international news articles. It's been told countless times: of his family, of his parent's custody battle across country lines and of his harrowing trip across three boarders in South America to reach his mother in Miami at the age of 16.
He was escaping an abusive parent and an oppressive life in Argentina. In his memoirs titled: "Journey out of Bondage: Memoirs of an International Escape" he wrote about the moment he decided to go, the moment he decided to meet his mother in America. He said, "this is between me and God."
His parents divorced when Mendez Lynch was young. And his mother fled the country twice to seek safety for him and now 20-year-old brother Dylan. Their great-grandfather was the Argentine ambassador to Cuba, and his great uncle was revolutionary Che Guevara.
But both times his father used The Hague Convention abduction treaty to bring them back to Argentina. The multilateral treaty works to quickly return children to their country of residence, but Pizzutello said it is flawed in cases with domestic violence. Time has left scars, but wounds are healing. His father, Teofilo Mendez Lynch was present to witness his son cross the stage at Fort Myers High School's commencement ceremony over a week ago.
A total of 50 Florida students were nominated for appointments to one of four official military academies: West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The academies subsequently offered appointments to over half of the nominated students. He was the sole selection from Lee County.
In the family's homes, pictures of Brandon and Dylan decorate the home. They have an area for a bonfire in the backyard, a playground and a well-stocked kitchen. It's small details like this that Brandon is thankful for. It's the small liberties that brought him to the U.S. to begin with.
"My brother has wanted this, his entire life," Dylan Mendez Lynch said. "He'd always talked to us about pursuing this, he'd wake up early to prepare physically and he worked really hard academically."
In the two years since he arrived, Mendez Lynch has grown taller, grown wiser. He served as goalie and co-captain of his school's varsity soccer team, volunteered in the community and made incredible friends. He attributed much of his success to family, loved ones and the church community that have been there for him. At his party, these same individuals gave him valuable advice. Grab the reins, enjoy the ride and from his mother ... remember you're loved.
"It's like a reminder that I full attained freedom ... it was so worth it, it's incredible I got accepted," Mendez Lynch said. "These people helped me get through a lot of stuff and encouraged me."