Blood On The Risers

(Tune "Battle Hymn of the Republic")

He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright
He checked all his equipment and made sure his pack was tight
He has to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,
"You ain't gonna jump no more!"

 

Chorus
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die,
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die
And 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 leaped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

He counted loud, he counted long, he waited for the shock
He felt the wind, he felt the cloud, he felt the awful drop
He jerked his cord, the silk spilled out and wrapped around his legs
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome
The lines were snarled and tied in knots around his skinny bones
The canopy became his shroud, he hurled to the ground
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

The days he lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind
He thought about the girl back home, the one he left behind
He thought about the medics and he wondered what they'd find
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild
The medics jumped & leaped with glee, rolled up their sleeves & smiled
For it had been a week or more since the last a chute had failed
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT," the blood went spurting high
His buddies all were heard to say "A helluva way to die!"
He roll around the ground, in the welter of his gore
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Chorus

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!

A big finish on the Chorus!

Historic Song of the U.S. Army Airborne