Dear Geg,

This is a bittersweet story about a family with at least three
generations or aviators.

My husband Tom and my stepson Jay both shared a love of flying. Tom's
dad was an airplane mechanic with 6 kids and he lived and worked all
over the State of Maine starting out with a Gipsy Moth and rebuilding,
repairing, restoring planes until he died in 1971. Tom grew up loving
planes. As a kid of 5 or 6 years old there isn't a life much better
than being on Moosehead Lake in Maine and your dad owning a Taylorcraft
on floats trying to make a living out of being a mechanic. Bud (AKA
Andre Aubin) could and would fix anything that ran on gas. Besides
planes, he'd work on boats, cars, trucks, (built a big water tank so he
could fix radiators for the big logging equipment working in the woods
that needed radiator work to help bring in a few extra bucks). Tom
grew up all around airplanes, took them up as a hobby recovering,
putting in bigger engines but never got his A&P so we always hire an
expert to assist in the work.

Tom would take all the boys in his Champs and Cubs, one, two, or three
at a time. They would do rollercoaster rides and wing overs, and the
boys would laugh and giggle and have all kinds of fun. Toms says
that's the way that got potty trained. They couldn't go to the airport
with daddy until they were big boys, cause daddy couldn't take a bunch
of diapers and stuff and I guess that's all the incentive he would
need.

Jay became a real expert and by the age of 5 could tell you all the
facts and figures about the Champ or Cub or whatever taildragger his
dad had (and was probably selling at the time). Someone would ask
about the plane and Jay would start telling them everything. Even some
stuff that might hurt the sale. So Tom had to explain to him that some
stuff was just on an as need to know basis.


I guess Jay got more of it into his blood than the other two boys
because in high school he decided to join the Marines and get into
aviation. He started out as a mechanic and excelled in that. Just
being average wasn't good enough, he would always strive to be the
best. So he went to college so he could fly for the Marines.

Jay also got his private pilot license, A&P, rotoary, instrument,
commercial ratings, as well as becoming an instructor in Yuma AZ at the
Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactial Squadron-1. He just told us he was
going to school in Yuma, didn't tell us he was going to be an
instructor at the Top Gun School for all branches of the service for
Chinook helicopters. I'd have things I didn't understand about flying
and he'd have a way of explaing it simply so that I could comprehend.

He was in Japan for 7 or 8 years, and twice someone visited him to try
to get him to fly Marine One for the president. He said he had signed
up for that committement and then the committment in Yuma and then
could fly the president. I tried explaining to him that the President
of the United States was the most powerful man in the world and he was
blowing him off??? But he had given his word and was going to stand by
it. Just have so much love and respect for him.

Unforunately Jay's helicopter was one of the first to go down in the
War in Iraq. There were 4 Americans and 8 British aboard. It was at
the very beginning of the war. If you put his name Major Jay T Aubin
into the internet you will get days and days worth of info, thoughts,
prayers. I gave up flying for a year after that happened. Didn't
trust myself. I suppose there was no way to stop Jay from flying even
if I had wanted to. But you just have to let your kids have some
freedom to spread their wings and fly if that's what they want to do.
I imagine he was one of the best pilots in the country. I'll miss him
until we get to meet again one day. Now he's with me on every flight I
take watching over me making sure I don't mess up. I'm just thankful
that there are many brave men and willing to sacrifce so much so that I
can be free enough to fly any time, just about anywhere I want. I
guess there are a lot of countries where a woman can't drive, go out
alone, own property, or a whole lot of other things; but because of Jay
and others like him I can own my own grass strip/farm, own an airplane,
and fly just about any old time. God bless America.

Besides working on airplanes. Tom and the boys were crazy about fixing
up trucks and going to mud runs. They won a lot trophies with cut down
VW bugs and FORD 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive trucks. Right before Jay went
into the Marines they were having a mud run and we had a 1972 high boy
FORD pick up with a little 302, rickety wooden body on the back. It
was our only form of transportation and had over 100,000 miles on it
and was being held together mostly by prayer. Jay wanted to run it in
the mud. Tom agreed cause it was probably going to be the last time
before he'd get to do it before leaving Maine for a while. Tom said
don't beat on it cause the engines already got a little rap in it and
it will blow up or fall apart. Well Jay drove as far as he could in 2,
downshifted to granny gear and went a little further and quit. Well
just "babying the old farm truck and letting the kid drive" he got the
blue ribbon and first place trophy. We still have that blue ribbon
here with his graduation tassle. He was so proud he took the truck to
school the next day without washing the mud off except the windshield
so he could see, with the trophy and blue ribbon on it.

Just spending time with your kids is so important. Must be a lot
harder nowadays with all the other distractions. But Tom and his boys
would always be working on something a plane or a truck, dune buggy,
snowmobile, a mini-stock race car, just something "guys do with their
dads". I fit right in as a stepmom because I loved trucks and cars.
Unforunately I only had a few teenage years with the boys before we all
seemed to end up in different parts of the world. So enjoy your
children while they are small. They might inherit some of your likes
or develop their own, and you might try some of the things they like.
Just stay as close as posible for as long as possible. God bless
America. Pray for one another. Carol, the Homesick Angel. Semper
Fidelis to God and Country.