ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

Be kind to your washed out cadets,

For they soon may be somebody's gunners.

Down in the ball all alone,

Where the bullets whizz and groan.

Now you may think that they are afraid,

Well they are - - -

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

You OK buddy?

BaronSchwab

Very interesting.

scottrc

Nice

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

Has a nice ring to it. How many songs are there like this, do you suppose, where the lyrics are truer than anyone can guess, and only the ones who were really there can know just HOW true they are? Gunner, you have my deepest respect.

I always liked the Airborne's version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which they call "Blood Upon the Risers"

"Is Everybody Happy?" cried the Sergeant, looking up;
Our Hero feebly answered 'Yes' and then they stood him up.
He leaped out into the blast, his static line unhooked,
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Several more verses, and a refrain, Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die.....

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

I think every branch had some sort of song that was meant for entertainment but had some deeper meaning. At the age of 18 those things were like laughing in the devil's face, a sort of "I dare you !". The old Army Air Corps had a theory that you could march in a more orderly fashion if you sang songs to keep in step. It worked. Wish I could remember more of them. Some were not fit for public consumption such as Oh Mona, Aunt Dinah, and some others only permissable on base.

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

They still do the marching ditties, at least we learned a bunch of them when 1 did my MIMSO (Military Indoctrination for Medical Service Officers) at Sheppard AFB back in the '80's. Seems like they are an eternal part of the military, and evolve their subject to suit the times, sort of like how K-rations are now MRE's.

Live Wire

I have never seen any thing ready to eat the army had in a CAN[:'(]
You had to march up to it

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

K-rations tasted pretty good. We had one for each crew member for each mission. Of course they froze solid so we couldn't eat them on the way home. Then there were C-rations in the life rafts but when they checked them they discovered that the ground crews had taken them all. We kept all the K's so we could have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner if it was too rainy of snowy to go to the mess hall. K-rations - Now that goes a long way back. My Marine Sgt. says the MREs aren't too bad. Problem was to keep all that Iraqi sand out of them .

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Actually the stuff in the cans.....marched up to you.