The back of this book was a “self-teaching” section that gave the how-to procedures on a plethora of activities that Bill and his brother Tom would use to learn anything they could imagine. Bill happened upon the page titled “How to fly an airplane”. The brothers took the instructions and coupled with Bill’s 6 year-old ingenuity, they built an airplane. They took a floor model radio, which didn’t work but it did light up. This was their cockpit. They would put books down on the floor that would serve as their rudder pedal. A 78rpm record broken in half was their control wheel. Throw in a national geographic magazine and you have a host of locations to fly to off to. The seed was planted.

His first actual flight as a passenger really caught him off guard. He was used to building sturdy airplane models by hand. When he stepped into the real thing, it shook. While taxiing to the runway he was beginning to have second thoughts. If he turned back now, he could have sturdy ground under his feet and the five dollars he had paid to board in his pocket. But before he could voice all of these thoughts, the plane was cleared for takeoff. It was only when Bill’s plane was singularly suspended in mid-air that he looked down at his own neighborhood…

At his own house…

He was hooked.

Against many odds he continued to fly. Even the movie theaters in Knoxville were segregated. But not aviation. That same 6 year-old eventually got his pilot’s license and became manager of the US Airways Boeing 737 operations.

Ah, the wonders of radio.

Though they had just met, they had some important things in common, including the fact that they are both homeless.

“How long have you been homeless?” Donald (L) asked Noblake (R).  Noblake answered that he began living on the streets in 2002, after being incarcerated for nine years. Many of the family members he was close to have passed away.

Donald’s story is a bit different. “I had to get some eye surgery. I continuously went to see doctors and couldn’t work.  I lost my job.” Donald also went through a divorce and left his house to his children and ex-wife, he said. “I’ve always told my ex-wife and my children that I would be homeless before I would allow them to suffer.”

“I respect you for stepping up like that,” Noblake told Donald.

At the end of the conversation, the men reflected on their futures.  “If you could do anything in your life right now, what would you do?”  Donald asked Noblake.  After a few moments of reflection, Noblake answered.  “I would study long, instead of study wrong.”  Noblake said his proudest moment in life was when he recently earned his GED.

“What words of wisdom do you have for me?” Noblake asked Donald.

Donald said, “If you do nothing, nothing will happen. You are the environment that you live in.  You change your mind, you change your life.”

“That has me pondering and wondering over here,” said Noblake.  “I appreciate that because I need to be reminded of it.”

When the men left the Booth, they said they were headed to the library to make a copy of their StoryCorps CD.

Snow described her journey to the U.S. 15 years ago. On the way, there was a flight delay in Taipei, Taiwan. A couple hundred of people that came with her on her flight slept in the waiting room at the airport. “Changing flights takes a lot of faith,” she said. “All you have to do is carry your ticket and they tell you where to go. Just the airplane journey prepared me a lot for being in a new country.”

Snow talked about the motivation of her brothers and her sister who came with her to the United States. “We’re here to succeed and we’re going to do whatever it takes to accomplish our goals.” They worked hard to buy a house. “We all have a separate room now. It’s a luxury for us. It comes from us. We worked hard for it. Back home, we shared a small room with 6 people.”

Snow now acts as an interpreter for other Montagnards in North Carolina. “As an interpreter,” Celia said to Snow, “You’re standing between two cultures.” Snow has helped people from her community navigate themselves through the health care system and find jobs. She has also been able to listen and empathize with their resettlement stories.

“It humbles me. I was there before them 15 years ago. We didn’t have an interpreter back then,” Snow said.

Our first street sign perched high above Winston-Salem Streets.

We arrived in Winston-Salem to unrivaled fanfare. During the opening ceremonies, Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines bestowed upon us the honor of having a street named in our honor.  A StoryCorps first! We each discussed wanting to bring home a sign after our stay, but that was before we actually saw the signs… They are enormous! Needless to say, our comfort level in a city so warm and hospitable is a considerably high. Our first participants included H’Tuyet (Snow) Rahian, a member of the Montagnard community in North Carolina.  The term Motagnard means “mountain people” in French and refers to the indigenous people of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Greensboro, North Carolina, is now home to the largest community of Montagnards in the world outside of Vietnam. Additionally, we had the pleasure to record Jimmy Ballew, a piano tuner who has been a pillar of the Winston-Salem community for decades. Couple these great interviews with the fact that our opening event was catered by the wonderful people at Mellow Mushroom Pizza and you have a formula for success.

I think we’re going to love it here.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines declares the street naming.

Participant Jimmy Ballew is a well-known face in the Winston-Salem community.

Facilitator Alex Kelly poses with StoryCorps Participant H’Tuyet (Snow) Rahian, of the Greensboro Montagnard community.