A Christmas Hero

Wish me luck.

What?

- Hello. - Good morning, Nick.

Good to finally meet you in person.

Oh, it's good to have another war hero among us...

We've got veterans from Afghanistan,

Iraq, Vietnam, Korea. They all work here.

Thank you, Troy. But I'm no hero.

I got paid to do a job, and I did it.

No thanks needed.

Okay. Understood.

Guess a better way to say it is

we got a lot of vets that work here

and I appreciate the sacrifice you made for this country.

Thank you, sir.

Troy, just Troy.

Let's talk and walk about the facility.

You've already met my baby here.

First one was built in the '60s.

They were effective for over 30 years

with not one fallen to an enemy.

How about that?

It's a beast.

Probably outrun any missile shot at it.

Come on, show you something else.

World War II.

- Like that one? - Yeah.

That's our Vultee BT-13 Valiant.

It was used during the second phase of flight training.

It was faster, heavier

and had more complicated controls

than the ones for cadets.

When that flew, the cockpit would shake and rattle.

It's so crazy.

Could you imagine actually flying in one of these?

Not really.

I'm actually a bit scared of heights myself.

Come on, man, really?

Yeah, I know. Pretty scandalous, huh,

considering the profession I'm in?

I appreciate their beauty.

I'm just glad this place lets me do that on the ground.

Come on. You gotta see this.

That's a Waco, CG-4.

They were used in some of the most important battles, including Normandy.

They'd be towed behind one of those C47s,

released, glide behind enemy lines

carrying troops and supplies.

Silent when they flew.

Made them perfect for stealth missions.

However, since they didn't have engines,

they were vulnerable

to unfavorable gusts of wind, bad weather.

They didn't have any parachutes on board.

So if anything did go wrong,

there wasn't much anyone could do.

Maybe that's why they nicknamed it the Flying Coffin.

Unbelievable.

So what do you think? You can fly something like that?

If it's all the same, I'd rather not.

I'm with you. I prefer my feet squarely on the ground.

No Air Force aspirations?

- No, no Air Force. - What branch?

Army.

Good. You'll fit in just great.

Come on, let's go.

So what do you think of our small town air museum?

Well, Troy, if I'm being honest,

um, when I heard there was a job opening

at an air museum in Kalamazoo,

I mean, I'm no elitist, but I wasn't exactly expecting much.

But...

This place is as good as it gets.

Got some unbelievable aircraft down there, really.

- It's a hidden gem. - Thanks.

We think so too.

Like I said, we've got Christmas ahead of us.

And I'd like you to shadow a tour.

Hit the ground running.

Oh, you wanted me to go on a tour today?

Sure.

Theory can only get you so far.

I want to get you some hands-on training to

really understand how things work around here.

Plus, George. He gives some of the best tours around.

Best guy to learn from.

If only I could find your name tag.

Oh, here.

Your official blue vest.

Trust me, you're gonna have a fun time.

These kids, man, they get excited over everything.

I mean, I really can't blame them. My own kids,

every time I bring them to work,

they get a kick out of this place.

I mean, it's next to impossible

to get them out of that simulator.

That's great.

You married, Nick? Any kids?

No. No kids.

My wife and I are going through a bit of a hard spot right now.

Oh, sorry to hear that.

Couple years in Afghanistan does wonders for any marriage.

Great. I will go find, George, was it?

And hit the ground running. Thank you, Troy.

Nick.

Big day.

Oh!

I thought I'd be able to sneak by

without anyone seeing me like this.

I was making some slime for one of the classroom activities

we have with the kids. And well, it didn't really go as planned.

I see it appears the slime won.

Yeah. I'm gonna grab another top.

Okay.

Wait. You're new here, right?

Yes. Um, just started today.

Great. Not a good first impression. It's Kristen.

Oh.

Well, I'm Nick, it's very nice to meet you,

but if it's all right with you...

Right. Good call.

Well, I'll let you get your new top.

Yeah. I'd never hear the end of it

if someone saw I spilled slime again.

Oh, hey, Kristen.

Um, do you know where the tour groups generally start out?

- I'm supposed to shadow today. - Oh, yeah.

They usually start in the main lobby and go from there.

You know, through the blue sky and clouds.

Right. I think I've heard that one before.

No problem.

Hi. Uh, excuse me. The... The tour group?

Great. Thank you, ma'am.

Hi. Welcome to the Air Zoo.

Um, this is a great air museum,

and you're probably wondering

why you walked through the wall of clouds.

Well, that's to replicate the days before

we knew we would become lighter than air.

And there's Nick, he's gonna be coming with us.

He's a new docent with us.

And, uh, what we're gonna do is go to the WASP room,

and that is the Women's Air Service Pilots.

We dedicated that to our founder,

who was also a WASP,

and I'll explain all of that once we get in there.

So follow me this way

and I'll explain a few quick airplane facts here.

Snoopy flew this airplane

to fight against the German, the Red Baron.

And here's our WASP room.

This is where the ladies... a tribute to their war effort

in World War II.

There were over 1100 pilots, women pilots

that actually paid to have their pilot's license

so they could do the war effort.

And there's a picture on the wall right there

that gives you an idea of just a few of the airplanes

that they would go to the factories to pick up

and fly them to the appropriate air bases,

sometimes even in... going into England.

Our founder of the Air Zoo who's actually

pictured right over here on the right,

Suzanne Upjohn Delano.

We're very proud of her and proud to have this exhibit

in our building.

Um, they were self-employed, basically,

because nobody gave them a paycheck.

They gave them a uniform

and they gave them a place to sleep,

and the rest was up to them to

encounter their own consequences. So...

How did they score?

Very high. Higher than the men did.

And so, they were nothing to sneeze at.

They could have very easily gone into battle.

But the government would not allow the women to fight.

So that was what their contribution is.

All right, let's go on to the next.

We're gonna go over here and,

you know what? We're gonna ride the Ferris wheel.

Hi, Nick. I'm Jim from Human Resources.

- Oh, yeah. Pleasure. - How did you enjoy the tour?

Uh... You know, it was actually good.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about all this tour guide stuff,

but I enjoyed it.

First job right out of the army?

Uh, yes, sir.

- What was your MOS in the Army? - 18 B.

So that was Special Forces weapons...

Sergeant, you really saw the action.

I can remember that it took me a whole year

to get a good night's sleep after I got back from Vietnam.

So...

Yeah, I know. That's... I haven't been able to sleep yet.

- Yeah. - The VA has given me some stuff

but nothing's really helping.

I think it takes a while to get back to normal.

Trust me, you will recover.

You'll be okay.