"Puckered Pete"
The Mascot of VXE6 Sqn, US Navy

AIR DEVRON SQUADRON

Late at night when the fire burns low,
and the lamps turned down only embers glow.
My thoughts they drift to that timeless land,
where once I served as a Cargo Hand.

How the snow was white and the mountains rose,
though the sun was bright still the earth it froze.
For the days were long and the night was nil,
and the work was hard and the air was chill.

The planes came in every hour or so,
from Antarctic Stations maybe 'forty below'.
We'd load them refuel them and then they'd be gone
To the South Pole or Siple or Palmer beyond.

Though it's cold at McMurdo and cold at the 'Pole',
there's a spirit only those who have been there would know.
For with courage, devotion and sacrifice too,
the Air Devron Squadron - we saw it all through.

©Copyright 1973 by Mike Subritzky

Operation Deep Freeze: Task Force 43 - USN