For me it was Nice not to have to wait too long for the chapter but something tells me this will be the last time.

My first comment is about the writing of this chapter and actually all of the chapters but particularly the ones with Jim--- you can really feel the respect you have for the real men who fought in these wars. Your interest in the details of the subject matters and love of it really comes through in your writing.

Ok onto so more detailed reviewing. First. Home. It's a lovely thought that her artwork can give him solace and something to look forward to.

eeewww. Never saw BoB but I'm guessing this was one of the borrowed scenes. But still eeewww

wondering which was the other.

Nice to see Solitaire still serves as a distraction and a way to pass the time during "work".

I just about cheered out loud when Pete came back. I was always a fan of his and the few fics he's been part of this one included have increased my love for his character so I'm glad you healed him.

Love the way you added a little metallic bling into this chapter. a fine substitution for yogurt lids.

One of these days he's going to forget to take out her photo and Oh boy when that happens. On a personal note I adore the detail of her photo always there during his flights. I keep baby photos of my boys tucked into the little window at the front of my car so I can always think of my babies. (In case I haven't mentioned it enough they are teens now.)

Even though I love the pranks and fun when Jim and Dwight are at odds there is also something really heartwarming when they are on the same team as they are here.

And what a extraordinary surprise it must have been for Pam and Penny to see the newsreel. I would have wanted to get up and scream that's my fiancé in the middle of the theater had it been me. Speaking of fiancé, nice work in of the buying the ring after 2 weeks.

Great chapter as always.

Author's Response:

Thanks Maxine. My Great-Uncle actually served in the 8th Air Force during WWII. So yes I have great respect for not just those men, but all the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces. Yeah, the urine in the pitcher is one of the scenes from BoB, though there the character actually gets the urine shower wake up. The other scene is where Jim stops Ryan to insist on miliraty protocol with the salute.

I'd always planned on having Pete come back. You're right, he's a great character and I do wish there was more of him around. Glad you also liked the medal ceremony. After what Jim and Blue Flight have done, they more than deserve them.

I know you're itching to get to the Jim and Roy figure things out bit. There's a plan in place don't worry. And yeah, pranks are fun, but I also do like it when Jim and Dwight have those moments of respect for each other.

I figured letting Pam and Penny see Jim and Griff in a newsreel would be a welcome surprise for everyone. Especially when Pam sees what Jim has named his new plane. Thanks as always for the great review. 

thank you for the new chapter!

Author's Response: You're welcome. 

I'm all caught up just in time for your next post - but maybe can sneak in first chapter of This thing Called Life first (and continue with adventures - yes been reading that too sorry haven't left reviews but enjoying it as I do all your stuff.)

Anyway, this was a nice little breather chapter - no worrying about the emotional turmoil of war for Jim (I know/hope you would never harm him, but the emotional seems to be doing enough - war is hell) even though we had to deal with that awful Danny Cordray.

Nice that Pam and her family are spending Thanksgiving with the Halperts -true spirit of Thanksgiving and family alive here.

The inclusion of the Pam's artwork is a lovely touch and enjoyed how you snuck in "I'm sorry what was the question."

So how long do I have to wait for the next update?

Author's Response:

Glad you got caught up. It's a long story so thanks for taking the time to read it all. Yeah Danny's not great. Hopefully I have Pam in a good place to deal with all of that. 

The artwork is fun to add in, along with lines from the show. Shouldn't be to much longer before an update. 

Forgive me as I read this chapter in two separate sections so my review may seem disjointed too.

You have a way will fitting the show dialogue and scenes into this story that seems so natural, never forced and that's adds to the story. Like Andy's punching the wall which takes him out and puts Ryan in.
And of course Ryan's getting shoved into the closet.

Plus you bring it all into real history and get at the emotions that must have been swarming around these brave young men.

I salute you for that.


You've got me waiting for the eventual Roy Jim clash. Right now Roy seems like a decent enough guy and close enough with Jim. I guess without Pam in between them there wasn't much reason for them not to get along. But I can't wait for that tension.

Another well done chapter. That got me in the feels as well as made me laugh.

Author's Response:

Thank you so much. It's a challenge to repurpose those lines and scenes, but it's a lot of fun to be sure. I'm glad you liked it.

I wanted to explore how Jim and Roy might have acted had Pam not been between them. They actually have a lot in common so it feels like there would be a way for a friendship to form. Not the close brotherhood Jim and Griff here share, but a friendship nonetheless. Thanks as always for your comments. 

Oh boy. That interaction with Danny is all sorts of awkward... I have a feeling that them working together is not going to be smooth sailing.

Aww, Jim’s family inviting Pam and her family over for Thanksgiving is very lovely. Given the change in circumstances, it would have been harder for them to be at home.

I know I could ask Google, but where’s the fun in that... What’s the significance of the flag in the Halpert window? Do the blue stars mean that there haven’t been any fatalities in the family during the war?

Wise words from William! Although, given the letters between them, I think this version of Pam and Jim are actually pretty good at communicating with one another. Hopefully they can maintain that when they’re back in the same space!

Author's Response:

Jenna! Wonderful to hear from you again! You're right in that there's going to be some storms to navigate with Danny. Should be fun to explore. It was fun to have Thanksgiving with the Halperts this time. Last year, (in the fic that is) we focused on the Beesly's so figured I'd switch things up.

You are correct about the blue stars. Mothers would hang those flags in their windows to signify they had sons (nowadays also daughters) who were serving in the military. A gold star on the flag meant their son had been killed while serving. Tom, Pete, and Jim are all in the Army so Betsy hangs a flag with three blue stars.

Thanks for the comment on William and the letters. I'm very glad to hear you say they're communicating well. Thanks as ever for the review. 

Way to scare the $@*# out of me with jammed gunned and the enemy on him. And apologizing to Pam. I knew you wouldn't but still felt the tension there.

What a coward and FRAUD Ryan is. But liked to see his comeuppance.

Taking the scene with Dwight and Pam from the job and twisting it around here to be Dwight and Jim that was clever. But really clever was bringing in the shorter English lad, Tim. That was unexpected but great fun. As I'm sure having Andy will be.

As much as I enjoyed this reading lines like of the 10 on the bomber only 2 leapt and pulled their ripcord. Makes you think about how many brave men we lost. Really hits me.

Let's see where we go with this story. I'm still waiting for Roy to learn about Jim with Pam. Also hoping that we get to see Griff become mor of a brother to Jim i.e. See his relaTionship with penny more. Don't know what you have in store for them but hoping.

Author's Response:

That was entirely the point of having the guns on "Ghost" jam like that. Also something that would happen with P-47's so a touch of realism there too from the research I've done. Clearly I'm not a fan of Ryan so it's fun to do stuff like that.

Glad you liked the scene with Dwight. I'm having a lot of fun re-imagining scenes from canon. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the character of Jim Halpert is based on Tim Canterbury from the UK version of The Office. I figured since the Americans are over in the UK it would be fun to bring in some of the UK Office characters. We'll see more of Tim in the next chapter as well as going forward. 

The 8th Air Force lost more men in combat than the entirety of the Marine Corps during WWII. Hard numbers to deal with, especially on the bombing mission in this chapter. Those men were beyond brave.

Don't worry, we'll see more of Roy and Griff going forward. Really hope you like the next chapter. It was one of my favorite things to write for this story.  

Another great chapter - which had me thinking a lot so here I go: first the intensity of the first scene - OMG - very nerve wracking even though I knew you'd never kill off Jim I was worried for some of the others- even Griff. The whole clenching of the controls and the breakdown on the tarmac later on really hit home to me that these are really just young men - some even boys not quite sure how old all are supposed to be here thrown into war and situations that are just so intense and important and how that must weigh on them. That plus fear for themselves, their metaphorical brothers and those they've left behind. That really came across to me reading this part.

I like the pairing of Pete and Jim on tarmac - I always wanted to see more of these 2 together on show - Jim had a lot to offer young Pete and I like seeing them in tandem here.

You may remember I have a lucky penny reference in The Gift of time - a very different reference as it was an inside story about my son at around 4 which I attributed to Jim -anyway it's a long winded way of saying reading lucky penny no matter what the reference is always something I'll smile at.

However, I like how you subtly had Alex (great way to tie him in BTW) say his rendition of a portrait may not be a true as it should be - I get it I get it - Roy would otherwise recognize his Pammy's sister - likewise how Jim names his plane Ghost and not Pam - and you must be saving that reveal for later - I imagine it will be a good one.

All the Dwight stuff was great  - I've got to wonder had you ever had a situation like that where someone pulled rank and you had to tell them to get out of the way so you could do your job.

I could see Jim at the mirror at the end trying to wash away all of the day - Pam's letter was a blessing to come when it did. Perfume reference (and I still think of it from Grease but it must have been a very common thing in the day).

Another great read but I'm hoping a little levity is coming in next chapter - a little wound up here.

Great job. 

I should have seen it coming with the Pammy. Roy, oh no, did he not get the message that she was done with him. That he'd been replaced. It will be interesting to see what you have in mind for Roy and especially with him an Jim in this setting.

I love the little things I learn reading this fic, like that the life jackets are called Mae Wests (now that's descriptive) and how the pilots are instructed to write on their hands to keep important information from getting into enemy hands.

Of course I loved the re-connection of Jim and Dwight and the scene repurposing. Good fun stuff.

Author's Response:

Well explore things with Roy more and more as we go on. It's one of the things I wanted to explore. How would Roy and Jim interact if the tension of Pam wasn't between them?

It's a lot of fun putting in all those historical nuggets. Glad you're liking them.

Told you Dwight would be back. We'll have some fun with him too. Thanks as always for your review. 

Ugh. Trust Danny to be an expert on gaslighting a full year before the film Gaslight even came out (and yes, I had to Google that). I love that you have him literally still showing the effects of his encounter with Pam and Penny - do not mess with a Beesly. And Pam showing her spine in this encounter is fantastic. She's right, Jim would be really proud of her.

The comic allusion to the horrors of canon in Jim's letter definitely got me chuckling - especially since apparently poor Tim Canterbury hasn't gotten nearly as lucky. Definitely clocked the idea about them visiting Australia together, too. And I love how powerful and important their connection is to each other even with all the miles and months separating them. Plus - the bickering about the collie was great. Hope we get to see what Jim's been up to again soon.

Not going to lie - mildly concerned that Pam's relief at seeing there are no gold stars on the flag is foreshadowing for Tom or Pete.

Very interested to see where you're going to take the Helene subplot next - feels like you've got a lot of room to maneuver with it. But at least William's getting some relief around the holidays.

Great update!

Author's Response:

Thanks for the great review darjeeling. Yeah, Danny's not the best here. Had Pam met him before getting involved with Jim and baseball I'm sure she would have fallen for his tactics. Now after being encouraged by Jim, not a chance.

The letters are some of my favorite things to write in this story. Since they're seperated its the only way they can keep up their banter about things like the collie and the like. Also good catch with Tim.

Glad you're still liking the Beesly sub-plot. There's a ryhme and reason for most everthing here I assure you.  

Where to begin? Of course the title nice little double entendre.

Here’s Michael and he’s just as we know him. Of course there’s a reason why he’s unable to serve. Good thing too because he probably be more dangerous to his troops than the enemy.

Nice to see the other familiar faces although I could’ve done without Cathy. Surprised to see Katy on the lineup. She seem more like a cheerleader type to me.

Pretty funny that Angela always has a cat with her and love that Phyllis is crushing on the fridge guy.

Ok do I detect hints of Grease here?

I knew you wouldn’t have anything happen to Jim so even though I recognized the scene I wasn’t worried with the telegram.

So I like how you mixed the casino night confession with the weight loss proposal. What a wonderful end to the chapter.

Author's Response:

I always look forward to when you can get a new review up. Yeah, there's no way anyone would want Michael near any kind of military equipment. So he gets to stay as the Manager. Cathy and Katy are there because I needed canon characters to fill out the line-up card. Still it's fun to bring them in too. I've got to keep some canon aspects in this story thus Angela with her cats and Phyllis making eyes at Bob. Probably another unintentional reference there if you see anything from Grease. I also really liked how the proposal scene played out. There's also a bit of "Paper Airplanes" in there too. Glad you liked it.

1

Ah. The titular chapter. I enjoyed reading about the ceremony and the surprise honoree and the silver wings.

However it was when I got further in the chapter that I had to blink and do a double take. Even though I’m reading a story I couldn’t believe my eyes. ALOTO is one of my Desert island movies. It was kinda what I envisioned when she caught the ball bare handed and then reading on it all came together.

I can kinda see Pam as Dottie minus about 5 inches. I’m very excited to see where this goes.

Author's Response:

Yeah, I had some fun with the First Salute ceremony. 

Glad you liked the twist with baseball. Like I said it was the original genisis of this story. Put the ladies from The Office into ALOTO. But then what would all the guys be doing? Most of them, serving in the war effort so there you go. I absolutly had the scene where Dottie catches the ball bare handed in mind with Pam there. Good catch. Hopefully you'll enjoy the rest of the baseball related story. 

Love the part where William talks to Jim about being able to talk about the hard things. Good advice. In relationships it is important to be able to be open and honest even if it brings up some hard topics or less than happy memories.

Glad to see a little of what has made Helene so hard on Pam and a some resolution to that.


Jims speech toward end so in character with notes of the conversation after Jim speaks to him on the show.

Keeping the review short to get right into next chapter before I get too tired.

Author's Response:

Thanks as always. William has turned out to be one of my favorite characters in this story so I'm glad you're liking him. Yes a bit more about the Helene arc which is another fun twist.

Good catch with Jim's speech. That is exactly what I was going for. We didn't hear what Jim said in canon to William, so I wanted to write it out a bit.

Looking forward to your next review.