On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marines Corp and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department — the Department of Defense.
Please say a prayer for our troops today and in honor here are some of the various anthems of our armed services.
Anchors Aweigh
Stand, Navy, out to sea, Fight our battle cry;
We’ll never change our course, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!
Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home.
I think I had to sing Anchors Aweigh over a hundred times during Chief’s initiation. I would wake up and have that song echoing in my head. And in the interest of military ecumenism here are other military hymns.
USMC The Marines’ Hymn
USA The Army goes Rolling Along
USAF The Air Force Song
USCG Semper Paratus (Always Ready)
Two Sleepy Mommies also posts a Navy Hymn called “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” that also includes verses for the other services.
6 comments
The other service songs, including “Anchors Aweigh”, have never really struck me as really being hymns (including the Marines'”Hymn”) — they’re more like anthems or college fight songs. I believe that in “Eternal Father Strong to Save”, the Navy has the distinction of having a song addressing the Almighty. If I remember correctly, all weddings at the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis include the Navy Hymn.
I’ve never read or sung lyrics to “Eternal Father” that addressed other branches of the armed forces. I always thought the other verses adressed jobs done by sailors other than handling ships, like naval aviation, the sea-bees, etc.
Always consult the Navy faq before posting!!!
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/eternal.html
Hooah! “First to fight for the right
and to build the nation’s might
and the Army goes rolling along…”
personally, my favorite military song ever is The Corps, next to the West Point alma mater.
I love West Point — pray they accept my application!
~Lauren
The Corps, The Corps, The Corps
The Corps bareheaded, salute it
With eyes up thanking our God
That we of the corps are treading
Where they of the corps have trod
They are here in ghostly assemblage
The men of the corps long dead
And our hearts are standing attention
While we wait for their passing tread
We sons of today, we salute you
You sons of an earlier day
We follow close order behind you
Where you have pointed the way
The long grey line of us stretches
Through the years of a century told
And the last man feels to his marrow
The grip of your far off hold
Grip hands with us now, though we see not
Grip hands with us strengthen our hearts
As the long line stiffens and straightens
With the thrill that your presence imparts
Grip hands, though it be from the shadows
While we swear as you did of yore
Or living or dying to honor
The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps
My father was a lieutenant colonel in the Army, but I’ve always been an admirer of the Marines.
Thanks for sharing that.
I found the info on the Marines’ Hymn particularly interesting, since that is one of the first songs I learned in life. (I would wager that my dear father was even singing it while pacing with my colicky self many a long night – post 1942 version, of course!)