Ex. combat engineer

[twobisquit]

Enlisted and was sent to Ft. Belvoir VA in '44. Near the end of training our whole group and many other groups were transferred to Camp Howze TX for Adv. Inf Training for 6 weeks as Inf. casualty replacements and then immediately sent overseas to ETO as Inf.

replacements. However, Combat Eng training was at least as tough as Inf. training. However, I sure recall the songs we sung on marches as Combat Engineers. "Ive been

working on the railroad", and the old King Cole song. "Old King Cole was a merry old soul , and called for his privates three. Beer, beer, beer said the privates, merry men are whe. No one else can drink more beer than a combat engineer. " And then up to the corporals, " we want a 3 day pass said the corporals, merry men are whe", and so on up through the ranks. Anone else remember the songs??? Sure wish I could really remember all the verses.. Just like the Jody "songs" and "Cadence counts". Seems like the new breed of our warriors seen to think that is something new. Not left over from many years ago. NOthing is new... Only a transition.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

I've seen some storys about Dear john letters to the troops with the response being to send a bunch of pictures to the ex or soon to be ex, and asking her to pick her picture out and send the rest back.

 

This is one that has been around since invention of the camera and was the topic of an episode of MASH in the 1970's with Dan Blocker's son as the Dear John.

 

Everthing Old is New again, is right !

[Custermen]

the Jody "songs" and "Cadence counts"

The Jody calls of 1944 were probably a lot different from today. When I was attending our summer camp for ROTC cadets, we had a couple of guys who could make up a Jody call on the spot. They had several colorful ones about the Viet Nam war. An officer heard us one day and reported us to our Flight Commander. He reprimanded me as I was the Flight Captain for that week.

Example of other calls was one that poked fun at one of the cadets marching in the flight in front of us---something related to his bad experience on his last date.

 

Steve

[Walt's Daughter]

Found this on a website...

 

Jody/Joe The Grinder

 

Ain't no use in going home

Jody's got your girl and gone

Gonna get a three-day pass

Just to kick old Jody's ass.

 

Anyone who has seen a movie about the U.S. Army has heard soldiers chanting and singing as they march or run. These chants or cadences are called jodies or jody calls, after a character in many of the songs. The character Jody is a civilian who has stolen the affections of the soldier's sweetheart back home.

 

The military use of jody call and the sense of jody meaning a civilian of draft age date to World War II and were introduced to the U.S. Army by African-American soldiers. Jody is a clipping of the name of Joe the Grinder, a slightly older character in jazz and blues mythology.

 

Joe the Grinder is the name of mythical ladies man in blues tunes who seduces the wives and sweethearts of prisoners and soldiers. He's also known as Joe De Grinder and Joe D. Grinder. The term dates to at least 1939. Grinder is from an old slang verb, to grind, meaning to copulate (1647-present).

[Walt's Daughter]

Get On Back Home

 

I don't know why I left

But I must've done wrong

And it won't be long

'Till I get on back home

Got a letter in the mail

Go to war or go to jail

 

Sat me in that barber's chair

Spun me around, I had no hair

 

Used to drive a Cadillac

Now I pack it on my back

 

Used to drive a limousine

Now I'm wearing Army green

 

Dress it right and cover down

Forty inches all around

 

Nine to the front and six to the rear

That's the way we do it here

 

Used to date a beauty queen

Now I date my M-16

 

Ain't no use in lookin' down

Ain't no discharge on the ground

 

Ain't no use in going back

Jody's got your Cadillac

 

Ain't no use in calling home

Jody's got your girl and gone

 

Ain't no use in feeling blue

Jody's got your sister too

 

Took away my faded jeans

Now I'm wearing Army greens

 

They took away my gin and rum

Now I'm up before the sun

 

Mama Mama can't you see

What this Army's done for me

 

Mama Mama can't you see

This Army life is killing me

[Walt's Daughter]

Foxhole

 

sittin in my foxhole

i thought i had it made

when all of a sudden

my buddy yelled GRENADE

 

 

WAAC Cadence

 

Your left, Your Left, Your left right left

I left my husband way out West

I thought this Army life was best

Now he's found him another wife

And I'm in the Army the rest of my life

Sound off, 1 2, Sound off, 1 2

Cadence Count, 1 2 3 4, 1-2, 3-4

 

The P and D(Pioneer & Demolition)

 

Hidee Hidee, Gosh Almighty,

Who in the Hell are we?

Zim Zam, God Damn,

We are the P and D!

 

sound off !!!

 

Sound off, one, two, sound off three, four, cadence count, one, two three four, one two, three four. You had a good home, but you left your right, right by the telephone, your right, but you don't give a damn, your right, you work for Uncle Sam,your right, sound off, one, two, three four, one two, three four!

 

 

Running Cadence / WWII (101st Airborne)

 

Nineteen hundred and forty-one

World War II had just begun

Nazi Germans were mighty tough

Going to war was going to be ruff

But in the States a combat team

Was being formed, it was mighty mean

 

Nineteen hundred and forty-four

The 101st went to war

Filled the skies over Normandy

"Rendezvous with Destiny"

 

Nineteen hundred sixty-five

Vietnam came alive

Ho Chi Ming was might brave

But the 101st put him in his grave

[Walt's Daughter]

An old Army legend is told... in May, 1944, an fatigued marching column, returning to barracks at Ft. Slocum, New York, picked up the step with a chant heard in the ranks. Others repeated it and the "Duckworth Chant" or "Sound Off" was born. Pvt. Willie Duckworth, an African American soldier created the chant that we know today.

 

"Sound Off"

(CHORUS) SOUND OFF (By individual)

1 - 2 (By troops)

SOUND OFF (By individual)

3 - 4 (By troop)

CADENCE COUNT (By individual)

1 - 2 - 3 - 4, 1 - 2 --- 3 - 4 (By troops)

 

VERSE 1 The heads are up and the chests are out

The arms are swinging in cadence count.

Repeat - Chorus after every verse

 

VERSE 2 Head and eyes are off the ground,

Forty inches, Cover down.

 

VERSE 3 It won't get by if it ain't GI,

It won't get by if it ain't GI,

 

VERSE 4 I don't mind taking a hike

If I can take along a bike.

 

VERSE 5 I don't care if I get dirty

As long as the Brow gets Gravel Gertie.

 

VERSE 6 The Wacs and Waves will win the War

So tell us what we're fighting for.

 

VERSE 7 They send us out in the middle of the night

To shoot an azimuth without a light.

 

VERSE 8 There are lots plums upon the tree

For everyone exceptin' me.

 

VERSE 9 The first platoon, it is the best.

They always pass the Colonel's tests.

 

JODY CALLS - Who is Jody? Jodie (Jody) is a mysterious, often sinister character that stays home and indulges in the good life as a civilian. This person can be a male or a female depending on the spin of the verses and is ready to comfort or take away your wife, girlfriend, sister or possessions while you are soldiering. Jody may be synonymous with G.I. Joe, a variation of John Doe. The verses are never-ending and are often made up for a particular person, place, unit or situation.

 

Here's a sample: You had a good home when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

You had a good home when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Jodie was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Jodie was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

 

(CHORUS) SOUND OFF (By individual)

1 - 2 (By troops)

SOUND OFF (By individual)

3 - 4 (By troop)

CADENCE COUNT (By individual)

1 - 2 - 3 - 4, 1 - 2 --- 3 - 4 (By troops)

 

You had a good home when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Jodie was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Her mamma was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Her papa was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

(CHORUS)

 

You had a good home when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

Your baby was there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

The police were there when you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

And that's why you left (By individual)

You're right (By troops)

(CHORUS)

 

The Captain rides in a jeep,

You're right (By troops)

The Sergeant rides in a truck,

You're right (By troops)

The General rides in a limousine

You're right (By troops)

But your just out a luck.

You're right (By troops)

(CHORUS)