The U.S. Navy's Awful Song

Radio Division, USS Earl K. Olson 1944
Author's father is at the far right

Copyright © 2024

by Ralph F. Couey

All of the services have their song, the one that is played usually when the members are walking or marching across a stage or down the street.  Except for the Space Force, they have been around for a very long time.  They are well known and familiar to most people and are meant as an expression of pride by the service member's themselves.

Most are stirring and inclusive across the ranks of officers and enlisteds.  

Except for one.

Now for the Marine Corps, its a song that speaks of courage, strength, and honor.  Words like:"

"From the halls of Montezuma

to the shores of Tripoli

We will 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."

The song starts out by referencing two critical battles where the qualities of the Corps shined brightly.  In 1847, Marines were part of the force that stormed and captured Chapultepec Castle, thus ending the Mexican-American War.  In 1805, Marines, in their first battle, attacked Derna, Tripoli.  Not only was the attack a victory, but it was the first of many times that Marines would raise our flag over the field of a hard-fought battle.  

The second part embraces the elan of the Corps,  knowing that they will be the first to engage the enemy.  They also vow to fight with honor, instead of as barbarians.  Throughout the years and wars, Marines have done just that.  The most important part of these lyrics is that there is no difference between officers and enlisted Marines.  All share that legendary reputation.

Now, the Army's song says a lot of the same things.  The original version was apparently written for the members of the field artillery, hence the term caissons, which are carts which carry powder and shells for the guns.  It was rewritten to go like this:

First to fight for the right,

And to build the Nation’s might,

And the Army goes rolling along.

    Proud of all we have done,

      Fighting till the battle’s won,

And the Army goes rolling along.

Then it’s hi! hi! hey!

The Army’s on its way.

Count off the cadence loud and strong;

For where’er we go,

You will always know

That the Army goes rolling along.

A proud song, sung by soldiers advancing into battle with heart and soul.  Again, there is no differentiation between ranks.  Whether officer or enlisted, all fight together, all share the risk.  It is a statement of pride that can be shared by all soldiers.

The Air Force, a relative newcomer, also has a song.  Their focus is the sky, of course, so it goes like this:

Off we go into the wild blue yonder

Climbing high into the sun

Here they come zooming to meet our thunder

At 'em now! Give 'em the gun! Give 'em the gun!

Down we go spouting our flame from under

Off with one helluva roar!

We live in fame, or go down in flame!

Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

 Brave, bold lyrics, courageous men and women charging into the face of the enemy with clear confidence in their ability to win any battle.  Now, there is a hint of rankism here, since pilots in the Air Force, and it's predecessor Army Air Force, were all officers.  But what it clear is the promise to all to meet the enemy and prevail.

 

Now the Navy.

 

Anchors Aweigh has been the Navy's signature song since about 1905.  It was the fight song for the Academy's football team, and eventually came to be the song for the entire service.  This has been the source of grumbles for a long time.  This tells of the experiences of officers boozing it up before heading out to sea in the morning, which any sailor can tell you is a massively bad idea.  The words are completely exclusive of anything involving the enlisted personnel.  Like the other three services, when the service goes to war, everyone goes to war.  Ship's crews all share the same dangers of sea duty as well as the hazards of battle.  Even in the air contingent, it's not only the pilots, but the enlisted crews taking care of those aircraft on the decks of the aircraft carriers, always vulnerable at sea who share the common dangers.  

 

This is not a new complaint.  Enlisted men and women in the Navy have long held a grudge against this divisive song.  In my time in the service, I knew a lot of sailors who outright refused to sing Anchors Aweigh because, as one said, "It's got nothing to do with me."  This disputes have been aired often in the All Hands news source, in the unofficial Navy Times, and even in the august pages of the Naval Institute publication Proceedings.  All have fallen on deaf ears, of course.  Officers have their fraternity, and the rest of us are not allowed.  That we have, and will, fight and die for this country alongside them apparently makes no difference.  I have a hard time understanding this.  Why does the Navy continue with a theme song that ignores more that three-fourths of its membership?  The other services have chosen the high ground of common service with their songs, and have done so for decades.  They can be sung with equal pride and sense of belonging with ALL members of the service, without regard for rank or position.  Although I am a proud Navy veteran, and Chief Petty Officer, I have to say in all honesty that I am ashamed of Anchors Aweigh.

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.

 Really?  

 But what would a new song be like?  First off, it would omit all references to rank and privilege, or the closeted academy experience.  Maybe it would reference a few battles, like the Marines.  Perhaps Midway, Samar, Lake Erie, Mobile Bay, or even Vicksburg.  It would have to state clearly the value of courage and indomitable will, and how those fights have preserved freedom, not only ours, but everybody else's we have fought for.  Everyone fights, everyone risks, so all share in the victory as well, and so deserve the soaring salute.

When my writer's blood is up, I can't resist putting down words.  My position as a tour guide aboard the Battleship Missouri is a real inspiration for this kind of effort.  So one day, I just started jotting down some phrases.  One was pretty silly, "Commence Firing! Fire at will! Shoot those guns and kill, kill, kill!"  Yeah, pretty bad.  But some other phrased snuck through, such as, "Go in strength across the seas, stout-hearted sailors guarding the free."  Another one, "Wherever the grey hulls part the waves, freedom and liberty they will save."   "Strong, proud sailors man the rails, into harm's way we will sail.  Duty calls us to the fight and none shall stand against our might."

Shakespeare, it is admittedly not.  But I think the point is clear.  If it is "One Navy," then the song should strongly state that, without ambiguity.  I would go as far as to have a brand new tune composed, one stirring enough to put Anchor's Aweigh firmly into the dusty bin into which it belongs.

Okay, this was a rant.  But really, Admirals, if most of your sailors won't even sing that song, why use it at all? 

And that, in the end IS the point.