Remember the Forgotten Mechanic
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,
He built a machine that would fly.
But somehow that order got twisted,
And then in the public's eye
The only man that could be seen
Was the man who knew how to fly.
The pilot was everyone's hero;
He was brace, he was bold, he was grand
As he stood by his battered old biplane
With his goggles and helmet in hand.
To be sure these pilots all earned it.
To fly you have to have guts.
And they blazed their
Names in the Hall of Fame
On wings with baling 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 kept 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 cannot.
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 aircraft
As they mark their way through the air,
The grease-stained man
With the wrench in his hand
Is the man who put them there.
-
Author unknown
