The Wright brothers and residents of the Outer Banks shared resourcefulness, tireless work ethic, dedication, and the importance of family, and these common traits grew into mutual respect and lifelong friendships. They worked and dined together, socialized, and discussed flight theories, and when the Wrights achieved flight, their friends were present to help and witness history. Descendants of the first-flight witnesses still live in the Outer Banks and remain active in the First Flight Society, a long-time park partner. Among those connected to these events were Johnny Moore, a sixteen-year-old hunting and fishing guide from the Outer Banks; Adam Etheridge of the U.S. Life-Saving Service at Kill Devil Hills, who became a lifelong friend of the Wright brothers and cared for their camp buildings after they left Kitty Hawk in 1903; W.C. Brinkley, a lumberman from Manteo who was at the Kill Devil Hills U.S. Life-Saving Station when the Wright brothers signaled for assistance with the flyer; Willis Dough of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, who witnessed and assisted in the Wright brothers' later 1908 flights when they returned to Kitty Hawk together for the last time; John T. Daniels of the U.S. Life-Saving Service at Kill Devil Hills, who took the famous photograph of the first flight; Orville Wright, who piloted the first flight on December 17, 1903, for 12 seconds over 120 feet; and Wilbur Wright, who steadied the wing and then let go as the flyer lifted off.