World War II veteran creates 'clean cuts'

Published July 24, 2009
By Senior Airman Tania Reid
6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- For more than 26 years, Mario Pujol's specialty has been taking care of servicemembers here on MacDill. He cuts hair at the barber shop on base and maintains his regular customers with his sharp precise styles.

His customers range from Airmen to generals and civilians to family members, but little do they know that he's 87 years old. Mr. Pujol, a World War II veteran, was a resident of Tampa long before the 6th Air Mobility Wing's KC-135's and C-37's called MacDill home.

"I saw the flightline being built," he said. "One of my jobs at the time was to keep rabbits from getting on the flightline."

At that time, rabbits and other critters were persistent at finding their way to the construction sites and hindered the progress of the flightline.

"The base was a different place then," Mr. Pujol said. "There were tents for buildings and the breeze was our natural air conditioner, we used to go fishing and swimming in the bay."

He began cutting hair at 19 in a family barbershop in Tampa and continued for a few years until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps.

"My job was to serve as a medic," Mr. Pujol said. "We would help the patients on and off the aircraft and lay them in the tents or on stretchers."

He served in the military for more than three years before returning to familiar grounds as a barber at MacDill.

The members in his shop say they adore him and find his stories very interesting. They love learning about what the base was like before it was built up.

"I met Mario in 2002 when I was coming to replace him as the manager of the shop and he was planning to retire," said Lee Bonanno, the base barbershop's manager. "We quickly cemented a friendship and I realized he was central to the work environment and convinced him to stay."

She believes that the shop has benefited greatly from Mr. Pujol and has learned a lot from his professionalism.

"He's an artist, he makes haircuts look simple, he visualizes the cut and then creates the style," said Mrs. Bonanno.

The love of what he does keeps him in his job while keeping his customers happy.

"I love cutting hair and helping my customers look sharp," added Mr. Pujol. "I've been a barber for more than 20 years and will continue doing this job until I don't feel like it anymore."

(Note: MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., is home to Air Mobility Command's and 18th Air Force's 6th Air Mobility Wing. The wing's overall mission is to provide worldwide air refueling and combatant commander airlift in support of the Air Force's global reach, global power mission and to provide support to Headquarters U.S. Central Command, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command and 51 other mission partners that call MacDill home.)

Clean cut