Peter Goutiere, now just shy of his 100th birthday, was reunited in Seattle with the Douglas C-47 plane he flew during WWII. He was only 29 years old when he piloted the aircraft on numerous missions over the Himalayan Mountains, braving tumultuous conditions and dangerous pathways to repeatedly deliver supplies to the Allied forces, according to The Herald of Everett, Washington.
CNN noted that Goutiere flew the plane for the China National Aviation Co. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Goutiere tried to join the U.S. Army Air Corps, but was rejected – at age 27 he was six months past the age limit. Determined to help his country, he joined CNAC in 1943. According to The Herald, the C-47 assigned to Goutiere holds historical as well as sentimental value. The aircraft was the 100th plane registered to CNAC and came to be known as Ship 100.
After Goutiere left CNAC in 1947, the plane cycled through various owners, including Pan American Airways, according to The Herald. In 2006, John Sessions, a New York-based aircraft broker, purchased and restored the plane. Together, Sessions and Goutiere piloted the C-47 from Seattle to San Francisco, where they met up with 102-year-old Moon Chin, another CNAC pilot. The two aviation veterans discussed their flying days as well as life after service. After flying the plane for the first time in 69 years, Goutiere told CNN "I was home."