Golden Oldies

I was talking to an Army vet the other day, reminiscing about misadventures, crazy missions, and military music. He reminded me of the song below, one that I hadn't thought of in years. It is sung to the tune of 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic".

Blood on the Risers

He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright

He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight;

He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,

"You ain't gonna jump no more!"

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

"Is everybody happy?" cried the Sergeant looking up,

Our Hero feebly answered "Yes," and then they stood him up;

He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock,

He felt the winds, he felt the clouds, he felt the awful drop,

He yanked the cord, the silk spilled out and wrapped around his legs,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome,

Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones;

The canopy became his shroud; he hurtled to the ground.

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

The days he'd lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind,

He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind;

He thought about the medics and he wondered what they'd find,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,

The medics jumped and screamed with glee, rolled up their sleeves and smiled,

For it had been a week or more since last a 'chute had failed,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

He hit the ground, the sound was "Splat!," his blood went spurting high,

His comrades then were heard to say: "A hell of a way to die!"

He lay there rolling round in the welter of his gore,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

(slowly, solemnly)

There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute,

Intestines were a'dangling from his Paratrooper suit,

He was a mess, they picked him up, and poured him from his boots,

And he ain't gonna jump no more!

Gory, gory, what a hell of way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,

He ain't gonna jump no more!

Lyrics and some more info from here