"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it", was the quip I'm familiar with. One story that came out of the Vietnam conflict was the mayday caller getting the reply, "Shut up and die like a man". Legend has it that the saying originated in the Korean conflict where "aviator" rather than "man" was used, "aviator" reputedly being a status term used by USN pilots, Marine and USAF being mere pilots.