VF-13 Maintainer's Page
This page is dedicated to those of us who did the wrenching, fixing, troubleshooting, tin bending, gun loading, plane captaining, washing, parts chasing, record maintaining, parachute packing, scrounging and overall support of those fantastic old F-8 "Crusader" aircraft in Fighter Squadron 13, onboard the U.S.S. Shangri-La, CVA-38, U.S.N. From the Mediteranean Cruises, Barcelona to Istanbul and darn near everywhere in between, to "Gitmo", around the Caribbean, and on those few rare occasions, the respites we had at NAS Cecil Field, FLA!
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE IS FOR ALL, REGARDLESS OF THE YEAR, WHO SERVED IN VF-13.
................"REMEMBERING THE FORGOTTEN MECHANIC"................. ................................. ....(Author Unknown)..............................
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'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 brave, he was bold, he was grand, as he stood by his battered old bi-plane, 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 name 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 jet aircraft, as they mark their way through the air, the grease stained man, with the wrench in his hand, is the one who put him there.
