Legacy of Valor
(Captions)

Veteran: Got some place you gotta be?

C-17 Pilot: Nah, sorry. Just waiting on someone. Thanks. 

Veteran: Been there you know; we started it. The 315th began as the 315th Troop Carrier Group. We started it up in 1942, and in '44 we were flying C-47s, Skytrains, out of England, Spanhoe Field.

Veteran: On June 6th that year, we flew 47 aircraft and dropped 844 paratroopers near Sainte Mere Eglise in France as part of the Normandy Invasion. 

Veteran: During that drop we didn't lose a single aircraft, and we kept flying the rest of that summer as the Army drove across northern France, and Belgium, and into The Netherlands. That fall, though, we lost five aircraft and a lot of good men, some really good men, during Operation Market Garden. You know, A Bridge Too Far? We were there. We flew in all the big operations, Battle of the Bulge, Operation Varsity, the drive on into Germany, you name it, we did it. We were in the UK when we got the news that the Nazis had surrendered and the war was over, and we knew we'd be going home soon. 

Veteran: After World War II we kept on flying, though. We carried supplies to troops in Korea, and then again when the war in Vietnam heated up. We carried paratroopers and hauled everything from jeeps to barrels of Scotch. 

Veteran: All those years we had some of the best airmen in the Air Force. - 

C-17 Pilot: You know, it sounds like the 315th hasn't changed all that much. We still have some of the best airmen in the entire Air Force. We've grown a little bit, though. There's about 2,500 of us. 

C-17 Pilot: And of course now we're flying the C-17. I'm sure you've seen it flying over Charleston Harbor. That's us, 315th. 

C-17 Pilot: Our jets carry whatever's needed: cargo, humanitarian aid, paratroopers, vehicles, and we fly it all over the world. We fly to Iraq and Afghanistan, moving wartime cargo and medically evacuating soldiers, to to Haiti after the major earthquake; That was pretty bad. So we have a wartime mission, but we move a lot of cargo to promote peace.

C-17 Pilot: These days we're a Reserve unit, though -- Reserve Citizen Airmen, they call us. Looks like we're continuing on the name and legacy of the 315th, just like you did. (phone buzzes) - 

Veteran: Looks like you've got some place to be. 

C-17 Pilot: Yes, sir. She's rolling up now. Thank you so much for your service, and for the beer. - 

Veteran: You're welcome. 

C-17 Pilot: Hey. 

Little Boy: Daddy, who's that man? 

C-17 Pilot: Son, he's just one of us.