I know I'm a few months late bringing this to your attention, at least for this year, but I feel it's my duty to make sure you are aware that on one day, May 24,  all Aviation Maintenance Technicians receive gifts of appreciation. You've heard of "Administrative Assistant Day," where administrative assistants receive flowers, balloons, cookies, and greeting cards of all kinds, and Aviation Maintenance Technicians Day is something very similar to that.

The first AMT was Charles E. Taylor, born May 24, 1868; Taylor built the first powered engine for Orville and Wilbur Wright's airplane that made the historic flight on December 17, 1903.

The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) has taken the lead in making National AMT Day, May 24, a reality. Our profession is a made up of men and women of different walks of life, but the poem of "The Forgotten Man" in this day and time should apply to us all: 

"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.
But for each of our 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.
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.
We all know the name of Lindbergh,
and we've read of his flight into fame.
But think, if you can, of his maintenance man,
Can you remember his name?
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.
And think of our wartime heroes,
Archer, Baugh, Gabreski, Jabara, and Scott.
Can you tell me the names of their crew chiefs?
A thousand to one you cannot.
To be sure, these pilots all earned it,
to fly when you had to have guts.
And they blazed their names in the Hall of Fame
On wings with bailing-wire struts.
Now, pilots are highly trained people,
and wings are not easily won.
But without the work of the maintenance man,
we'd miss the plan of the Son.
So when you see the Helio Courier,
as it lands on a dime with great care,
the grease-stained man with the wrench in his hand,
is the man who put it there.

Ok…I added two of my personal friends to the wartime heroes section of the poem, and they are original Tuskegee Airmen, WWII's first black fighter pilots. Please take a few minutes to help us bring Charlie and all aviation mechanics their long overdue recognition.

You now have less than a year to plan for what you will do for your favorite Aviation Maintenance Technician. Flowers and cards are nice, but the Mechanics I work with love pizza and ice cream.  I know... I know it's the thought that counts.