sky pilot

[Walt's Daughter]

I remember this song from the 60's. Papa Art sent me an email regarding the lyrics. He copied this from another post. I'm placing his post here, and then what I found out regarding the lyrics.

 

 

I always thought "Sky Pilot" by The Animals was about WWII, but I may be wrong:

 

Sky Pilot

 

He blesses the boys as they stand in line The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine He's there to help them all that he can To make them feel wanted he's a good holy man Sky pilot.....sky pilot How high can you fly You'll never, never, never reach the sky

 

He smiles at the young soldiers Tells them its all right He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight Soon there'll be blood and many will die Mothers and fathers back home they will cry Sky pilot.....sky pilot How high can you fly You'll never, never, never reach the sky

 

He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile The order is given They move down the line But he's still behind and he'll meditate But it won't stop the bleeding or ease the hate As the young men move out into the battle zone He feels good, with God you're never alone He feels tired and he lays on his bed Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said Sky pilot.....sky Pilot How high can you fly

 

You'll never, never, never reach the sky You're soldiers of God you must understand The fate of your country is in your young hands May God give you strength Do your job real well If it all was worth it Only time it will tell

 

In the morning they return With tears in their eyes The stench of death drifts up to the skies A soldier so ill looks at the sky pilot Remembers the words "Thou shalt not kill" Sky pilot.....sky pilot How high can you fly You never, never, never reach the sky

 

Nick Sic volvere Parcas

 

 

===================

What I found out:

 

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2429

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Pilot

 

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dic...efid=1861734676

[Cadetat6]

SKY PILOT IS SAME FOR ANY ONE WHO

SAID "I PILOT HERE"<"I PILOT THERE" NNOW I HAVE TWO PILOTS OF CLOTHES

 

papa

[Sgtleo]

 

Marion:-

 

Whether they were called Sky Pilot,Padre or Chaplain that was, besides his mother, the first person a gravely injured GI would ask for. I never saw a Chaplain yet that ever said "I can't go up there it's too dangerous" - they just went.

 

Many if not all were trained in the matters of other than their own Religion and when they asked "what Religion are you soldier?" it was so they could/would be able to say the appropriate prayers to comfort the man.

 

Sgtleo

[chucktoo1926]

Being Presbyterian, and gravely wounded, would I care who prays over me. Even a budist would suit me. My soul is what counts

[Sgtleo]

 

chucktoo1926:-

 

I know I have told this story before but bear with me. We had a resident agnostic that always argued "there is No God"(even with the Padres).

 

In the early days when we were in the Bocage Area(Hedgerows) of Normandy,a flight of some P-38s hedgehopping back to England and staying low to avoid the radar of the Krauts - popped up over our nearest hedgerow and were gone before we even saw them. After the roar subsided, our resident agnostic yelled to me "Hey Sarge - Holy Mother of God what the H**L was that??".

 

When the laughing stopped(nervous laughter) I yelled back "If there is no God as you keep saying - how can he have a Holy Mother".

 

Enter one convert - that day!!!

 

Sgtleo

[Walt's Daughter]

Sarge another superb story! Bravo. Holy Mother of God!

[Sgtleo]

 

 

The Agnostic:- An Earlier Edition

 

This is another side of that man that I remembered after I shut down last night

 

Setting = Staging area in England. Unit is situated in Plt. sized tents which have the sides rolledup for ventilation. Warm evening so most guys are just in their shorts with no top on(This is important to the story).

 

THE AGNOSTIC who says there is no God is always talking about the Spiritual world and/or Spiritis(read that Ghosts)!!

 

Natually the guys are egging him on because this guy was WAAAAAY out there. The more he's fed the more he eats it up. Guys that never joined in are now feeding him all kinds of ghost stories.

 

Couple of my guys saunter out to the Lister Bag(drinking water supply) that the Supply Corp. has provided and we managed to get ice to get and keep the water cold. These two guys have gotten the camo stuff for your faces we were to use and have been standing with their hands in the ice water outside waiting for "THE MOMENT". It's a wonder they didn't get frostbite!!

 

The two guys sneak up behind the Agnostic and with blood curdling yells and their freezing hands jump out of the dark and onto him in the cot grabbing his neck and head. First of all he has an "ACCIDENT" on his cot and then proceeds to pass out.

 

One of our Medics comes barreling through and is screaming at us for what we did.

 

Do you stupids B**T**ds realize you could have given him a heart attack!! The Medic took him to the Medical tent and kept him there for two days he was so shaken.

 

I had to do some fast talking and tell the CO that because of the Camo Faces I didn't recognize the culprits. The "Humor" in those days was almost sadistic.

 

I really felt sorry for this man and his mind set but............

 

Sgtleo - Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

[Dogdaddy]

From talking to veterans of WWII here in the states and also from other nations I believe the name called out most often by the gravely wounded is "Momma!" I've always though it was wonderful that Chaplains in the service ministered to men of all faiths and religions when asked to. Here's to The Sky Pilots!

 

 

Jim

[Sgtleo]

 

Dogdaddy:-

 

I agree with you 100% and said so in my posting above. I knew and saw numbers of Paras that I wouldn't want to fight with a gun and yet when wounded they were calling for their Mother then the Chaplain.

 

What many people forget is that many of us were only 19 or 20 and hadn't been away from home before let alone in a war!! We were truly only kids when we went in the Army.

 

This Mother Issue is a big hole that many Army Nurses filled with the WIA because they comforted a bazillion WIA by their conduct and concern for the man's situation. Too often they were not given the credit they deserved. I saw Nurses crying like a baby while holding a man's hand to make him quiet down as he was asking for his Mother over and over.

 

Sgtleo

[Walt's Daughter]

Speaking of chaplains, I know Rocky will chime in on this one. There was one really superb chaplain who got a lot of mention in Dogfaces Who Smiled Through Tears. He was very well-loved and respected and the 34th wouldn't have been the same without him. Rocky can you recall his name off the top of your head? It was a real joy to read about him. A real inspiration!