WILBRAHAM, Mass. (WWLP) – Just as “Top Gun: MAVERICK” was a big box office attraction at the movies last year, a C-5 Pilot helped fill the hall with retirees at a housing complex in Wilbraham on Thursday.

The hall was packed with retirees living in this Wilbraham retirement community to hear 337th Airlift Squadron, C-5B Pilot Matthew Daggett talk about the history of Westover and what the Air Reserve Base means to the Pioneer Valley.

“Relevance to the community, our global missions, where we’re at,” said Daggett.

Rodney Furr the Westover AFB Chief Public Affairs Officer told 22News, “Our host originally said ten people were coming, but when they heard we had a C-5 Pilot coming out, it jumped.”

No one was more enthusiastic about hearing the Westover story than retired personnel from the Air Reserve Base, Richard Chase. Chase now makes his home at the Gardens of Wilbraham. Hearing from First Lt. Daggett really took him back, “Very good, the base has changed a lot. C-5s came in at the end of my tour at Westover. It’s good to see they’ve kept up upgrading.”

The visit had been arranged through the Gardens at Wilbraham veterans assembly, and the public affair office at the base seems more than willing to bring its story to future gatherings throughout western Massachusetts.