Veterans Day is Nov. 11. However, on Nov. 10, the United States Marine Corps celebrated its 232nd birthday, and since I served as a Marine machine gunner in the Korean War, and became a Marine Corps staff sergeant, and later authored the book, “We Claim the Title, Korean War Marines,” please let me present my research from the Internet regarding praising the services.
Now with tongue placed firmly in cheek, let’s review the following:
The U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force have their own songs.
For the U.S. Navy, “Anchors Aweigh” was written in 1906 by Lt. Charles Zimmerman and midshipman Alfred Miles. Initially, the song was a tribute to the Naval Academy Class of 1907. Later, various people revised it. But, a midshipman, Royal Lovell, penned the final stanza in 1936.
“Anchors Aweigh” has a nice little tune, but no one knows what the words imply. The original first stanza in 1906 had dealt solely with the game of football. Even today, the song offers a “farewell to college joys.” The lyrics end by “wishing you a happy voyage home.”
Many musical experts think that “Anchors Aweigh” is a ballad for football players who like sailboats. But, no one really knows for sure.
The U.S. Army adopted a fetching tune for “The Caissons Song.” Unlike the words in the Navy’s song, the words of the Army’s song make sense.
Edmund Gruber wrote the original lyrics in the Philippines during World War I. Naturally, since most of the fighting was 8,000 miles away in Europe, Gruber made only a passing reference to warfare. Yet, he apparently sought the help of grade school students in composing the lyrics. The banal “Hi, hi, hee” is a dead giveaway. No one has a clue as to what it might mean. Yet, it does rhyme.
The U.S. Air Force did not exist in 1938. But, that year Liberty Magazine sponsored a contest for an official song for the Army Air Corps and received 757 entries. A group of Army Air Corps wives (yes, believe it or not, wives) selected the entry from Robert Crawford, “Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder.”
After World War II, the Army Air Corps evolved into the U.S. Air Force. This flying club adopted “Off We Go” as their official song. It suited the illusionary nature of the new “Wild Blue Yonder Wonders” with reference to “those who love the vastness of the sky” and the fictitious “rainbow’s pot of gold.”
These three songs, Anchors Aweigh, The Caissons Song, and Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder, are often played at public events. They obviously delight the members and advocates of the affected service: Navy, Army, or Air Force.
When their song is played, sailors, soldiers, airmen leap to their feet and shout, cheer, clap their hands, almost like a high school pep rally.
On the other hand, the U.S. Marine Corps is a “Band of Brothers” dedicated to warfighting. This proud Brotherhood of Marines is guided by principles, values, virtues, love of country, and its Warrior Culture. This brotherhood of American Patriots has no song.
Indeed, Marines have a hymn. When the Marines Hymn is played, United States Marines stand at attention. They silently show their pride in their fellow Marines, their Corps, their Country, their heritage, and their hymn.
Marines stormed fortress Derma in 1805, raised the American flag and gave us “the shores of Tripoli.” In 1847, Marines fought their way into the castle at Chapultepec and gave us the “halls of Montezuma.” Marines exist for the purpose of warfighting. They “fight for right and freedom” and “to keep our honor clean.”
The Marines need no song. They have a hymn. Ironically, no one knows who wrote the hymn, which was in widespread use by the mid-1800s. Col. A.S. McLemore, USMC, spent several years trying to identify the origin of the tune. In 1878, he told the leader of the Marine Band that the tune had been adopted from the comic opera Genevieve de Barbant, by Jaques Offenback.
Yet, others believe the tune originated from a Spanish folk song. Regardless, of its origins, The Marine Hymn has remained a revered icon of the United States Marine Corps.
In 1929, the Marines Hymn became the official hymn of the corps. Thirteen years later in November 1942, the commandant approved a change in the words of the first verse, fourth line. Because of the increasing use of aircraft in the corps, the words were changed to “In the air, on land, and sea.” No other changes have been made since that time. When you have attained absolute perfection, there is no need for further modification:
From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles,
In the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of
UNITED STATES MARINES.
