Another birthday! Hoo-RAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

[gridlore]

Along with my lovely wife, one of my other loves has a birthday today!

Happy birthday to the United States Army, created by an act of the Continental Congress on June, 14, 1775!



And everybody sing!

The Army Song

March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free
Count the brave, count the true, who have fought to victory
We’re the Army and proud of our name
We’re the Army and proudly proclaim

First to fight for the right,
And to build the Nation’s might,
And The Army Goes Rolling Along
Proud of all we have done,
Fighting till the battle’s won,
And the Army Goes Rolling Along.

Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong (TWO! THREE!)
For where e’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

Valley Forge, Custer’s ranks,
San Juan Hill and Patton’s tanks,
And the Army went rolling along
Minute men, from the start,
Always fighting from the heart,
And the Army keeps rolling along.

Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong (TWO! THREE!)
For where e’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

Men in rags, men who froze,
Still that Army met its foes,
And the Army went rolling along.
Faith in God, then we’re right,
And we’ll fight with all our might,
As the Army keeps rolling along.

Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong (TWO! THREE!)
For where e’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

Comments

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Some day, I'll post the lyrics to the "Army goes smoking a Bong" song. I have to find them first... ;-)

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday!

That's the caisson song over here...

[akicif.livejournal.com]

So, is the artillery song a filk of this - and does every corps have its own version?

Re: That's the caisson song over here...

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The Army Song is based on the Cassion Song, and was altered after WWII.

Every combat arm has it'sown song. The Infantry song can be heard here (http://www-benning.army.mil/InfantryBand/music/infantrysong.mp3).

We also have our own poem, which grows with every new campaign.

FOLLOW ME!

I am the Infantry--Queen of Battle! For two centuries I have kept our Nation safe, Purchasing freedom with my blood. To tyrants, I am the day of reckoning; to the oppressed, the hope for the future. Where the fighting is thick, there am I…I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I was there from the beginning, meeting the enemy face to face, will to will. My bleeding feet stained the snow at Valley Forge; my frozen hands pulled Washington across the Delaware. At Yorktown, the sunlight glinted from the sword and I, begrimed…Saw a Nation born. Hardship…And glory I have known. At New Orleans, I fought beyond the hostile hour, showed the fury of my long rifle…and came of age. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

Westward I pushed with wagon trains…moved an empire across the plains…extended freedom's borders and tamed the wild frontier. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I was with Scott at Vera Cruz…hunted the guerilla in the mountain passes…and scaled the high plateau. The fighting was done when I ended my march many miles from the old Alamo. From Bull Run to Appomattox, I fought and bled. Both Blue and Gray were my colors then. Two masters I served and united them strong…proved that this nation could right a wrong…and long endure. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

I led the charge up San Juan Hill…scaled the walls of old Tientsin…and stalked the Moro in the steaming jungle still…always the vanguard, I am the Infantry!

At Chateau-Thierry, first over the top, then I stood like a rock on the Marne. It was I who cracked the Hindenburg Line…in the Argonne, I broke the Kaiser's spine…and didn't come back 'till it was "over, over there." I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

A generation older at Bataan, I briefly bowed, but then I vowed to return. Assaulted the African shore…learned my lesson the hard way in the desert sands…pressed my buttons into the beach at Anzio…and bounced into Rome with determination and resolve. I am the Infantry!

The English channel, stout beach defenses and the hedgerows could not hold me…I broke out at St. Lo, unbent the Bulge…vaulted the Rhine…and swarmed the Heartland. Hitler's dream and the Third Reich were dead.

In the Pacific, from island to island…hit the beaches and chopped through swamp and jungle…I set the Rising Sun. I am the Infantry!

In Korea, I gathered my strength around Pusan…swept across the frozen Han…outflanked the Reds at Inchon…and marched to the Yalu. FOLLOW ME!

In Vietnam, while others turned aside, I fought the longest fight, from the Central Highlands to the South China Sea I patrolled the jungle, the paddies and the sky in the bitter test that belongs to the Infantry. FOLLOW ME!

Around the world, I stand…ever forward. Over Lebanon's sands, my rifle steady aimed…and calm returned. At Berlin's gates, I scorned the Wall of Shame. I spanned the Caribbean in freedom's cause, answered humanity's call. I trod the streets of Santo Domingo to protect the innocent. In Grenada, I jumped at Salinas, and proclaimed freedom for all. My arms set a Panamanian dictator to flight and once more raised democracy's flag. In the Persian Gulf, I drew the line in the desert, called the tyrant's bluff and restored right and freedom in 100 hours. Duty called, I answered. I am the Infantry! FOLLOW ME!

My bayonet…on the wings of power… keeps the peace worldwide. And despots, falsely garbed in freedom's mantle, falter…hide. My ally in the paddies and the forest…I teach, I aid, I lead. FOLLOW ME!

Where brave men fight…there fight I. In freedom's cause…I live, I die. From Concord Bridge to Heartbreak Ridge, from the Arctic to the Mekong, to the Caribbean…the Queen of Battle! Always ready…then, now, and forever.

Re: That's the caisson song over here...

[akicif.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That's powerful stuff, that is.

And that's a neat allusion to the battle of New Orleans happening after the end of the war.... Through no fault of those present, I hasten to add!

The Battle of New Orleans

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

One of the units I served in, the 7th United States Infantry, earned their first battle streamer at New Olreans, as well as a nickname that has plagued us ever since.

The 7th was ordered to anchor one end of the line, and to perform this job better, broke into some warehouses and dragged out huge bales of cotton, some weighing upwards of a ton and a half. They used these bales to create battlements and firing steps that were impervious to even the light cannon the British had. Since then, the 7th Infantry has been known as The Cottonbalers (http://www.cottonbalers.com/)

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

I have a book here called "Army Song Book" that I got at a garage sale for a quarter, it was compiled by the Adjutant Generals Office and is the second revised edition dated 1941, its kinda cool

its got some real classics, like more verses to the Old King Cole cadence than I've ever heard