Found this in my files...
<b>Remembering the forgotten mechanic </b>
Through the history of world aviation many names have come to the fore.
Great deeds of the past, in our memory will last, as they’re joined by more and more.
When man first started his labor, in his quest to conquer the sky, he was designer, mechanic, and pilot, and he built a machine that would fly.
But somehow the order got twisted, and then in the public eye, the only man that could be seen was the man who knew how to fly.
The pilots was everyone’s hero, he was bold he was grand, as he stood by his battered old airplane with his goggles and helmet in hand.
To be sure these pilots all earned it, to fly you have to have guts.
They blazed their names in the hall of fame on wings with bailing wire struts.
But for each of these flying heroes there were thousands of little renown, and these were the men who worked on the planes but keep their feet on the ground.
We all know the name of Lindbergh, and we’ve read of his flight to fame. But think, if you can, of his maintenance man, can you remember his name?
And think of our wartime heroes, Gabreski, Jabara, and Scott.
Can you tell me the names of their crew chiefs, a thousand to one you can not.
Now pilots are highly trained people, and wings are not easily won.
But without the work of the maintenance man our pilots would march with a gun.
So when you see mighty jet aircraft as they make their way through the air, the grease stained man with the wrench in his hand is the man who put them there.
Ugly But Well Hung
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