We were at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport, and we wandered around for awhile until we came to the P-38. There was a little crowd around it, and we soon figured out it was a family reunion. The patriarch had been a P-38 pilot, and they had brought him there specifically for that plane. I walked up to him, shook his hand and told him that my mom had helped put those planes together. He looked at me and told me to tell her that she had done a great job, which I later did. She started telling me stories about working there. One that stood out was they had hired dwarves to mount the nose guns because average people couldn’t fit.
The most awesome museum on the planet.
I felt honored to be there, and got a cheap thrill when no one was looking and I actually touched one of the planes, I forget which. Maybe it was the SR-71, I forget. It was a big day for me.
That place is a testament to our greatness.