Before it took to the metro Denver skies on Friday morning, the C-47A troop carrier aircraft aptly named “That’s All, Brother” — as a warning message to Adolf Hitler — led the 800-plane armada on D-Day, dropping 101st Airborne Division Paratroopers behind enemy lines in Normandy, eventually finding its way to an aircraft junkyard in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

“One of our historians at the Commemorative Air Force Headquarters was doing some research on different serial numbers and had discovered the serial number of this airplane… It was actually getting ready to be converted into a turboprop version where it would be out working, hauling freight,” John Cotter, the historic aircraft’s pilot, said. The aircraft was within six months of being disassembled and engineers spent about 20,000 hours restoring the plane to its former glory, Flying Mag reported.

That’s All, Brother is one of several storied aircraft available for tour and passenger rides during the Wings Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight museum’s History Comes to Life Showcase located at the Centennial Airport. The museum partnered with the Commemorative Air Force’s Texas and Gulf Coast Wings as well as the Experimental Aircraft Association to source this weekend’s aircraft.

After its figurehead role in the D-Day invasion, the plane was flown in in Operation Dragoon, Operation Market Garden, the Relief of Bastogne, and Operation Varsity.

“She’s better today than she was 80 years ago. … One of the reasons we want to restore and keep these airplanes flying is we want to be able to tell the story of the Greatest Generation. We don’t want to make the mistakes of history that required them to be the Greatest Generation,” Cotter said.

Cotter noted that the war effort was widespread throughout America, from the men flying and jumping out of the plane to the Rosie the Riveters building it.

“You’re just flying along and you just look out at those wings with the invasion stripes and you’re just like, ‘Wow,’ this is an honor they let us do this’,” Cotter said.

Honor Bulkley, a passenger on That’s All, Brother’s, Friday morning flight did not know much about its storied aviation past prior to the flight but was interested because of her son’s passion for history and WWII.

“As soon as I took pictures of the plane and sent them to him, before I even said what I was doing he said, ‘I think that’s a C47,’” Bulkley said.

“It’s great to see people who are so enthusiastic about preserving our culture and aviation history like the curators here. They’ll talk to you forever and are so knowledgeable, it’s really cool,” Bulkley said.

“The words I’ve been getting from different organizations is that this is an unprecedented collaboration with our showcase this weekend,” Jordan Ashley, the director of programs at Wings Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight museum, said.

“I think everybody has their own interests, the same as you would have with classic cars… [Reliving] what people in their teens or twenties did on that special day and throughout WWII is a special experience for a lot of people,” Ashley added.

The showcase goes until Monday and tickets and more information can be found on wingsmuseum.org.