Dr. Les Cleveland
Senior Fellow
Armed Forces History
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20460
Copyright Les Cleveland, 1986, and used by permission. All rights reserved.
Whatever the military perplexities of Vietnam, at least the social behavior
of its Western participants conformed to some of the traditional experience
of modern warfare. Like a previous generation of U. S. and other Allied
services personnel in World War 2, the troops in Vietnam used occupational
folksong as one of the ways of defining the complexities of their situation.
This can be explored by using the concept of organizational culture to
analyze a selection of the songs that were current during the war.
Edgar H. Schein (1985,9) defines the culture of groups within
occupational communities and organizations as a pattern of basic assumptions
invented or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems
of external advantage and internal integration. This needs to have worked
well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members
as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to these problems.
In other words, organizational culture is the way the groups face the world
and maintain their own internal solidarity. Their cultures can be studied
formally in their officially sponsored frameworks as well as in the traditional
customs and observances of particular units. Or they can be investigated
informally in their folklore.
From a military point of view, the essential requirement of the
organizational culture of a combat unit is that it should be productive
of a strong sense of solidarity and esprit de corps because, along with
leadership and training, this is one of the key factors in combat motivation.
Military sociologists and historians have long known that esprit de corps
is an outcome of a strong sense of group identity as well as commitment
to military goals. It requires that each individual should feel integrated
with the others in his squad, section, gun crew, flight or team because
that is the primary organization in which he lives and fights and the group
on which his personal survival ultimately depends. Central to the experience
of most infantry and most combat aircrew is the paradox that the individual
struggle for survival often demands collective dedication in which a person
may be risking his life and making sacrifices for others. The pattern of
basic assumptions by which he learns to cope with this kind of crisis is
of very great importance. Its centrality to the organizational culture
of the ordinary combat soldier in Vietnam is apparent in a few lines of
a song entitled "Grunt" (Lansdale 1976; Ellis 1980). It teaches that learning
to improvise under circumstances of deprivation is what matters most, and
that comradeship (and hence the integration of groups) requires sharing.
Being a Grunt, you learn to live with what you've got
Little things mean a lot, when they're things you haven't got;
Share between you what you've got
And learn to live with what you've got, etc.
However, this homily on the imperatives of group socialization was far from being universally accepted by all who served in Vietnam. That there was a great deal of conflict concerning the problem of integration within the organizational cultures of the military in that campaign is a notorious historical fact that can be amply illustrated in both the popular music and the folksong of the era. In their early phases, the hostilities were depicted in popular commercial entertainment as a crusade for freedom by heroic U. S. soldiers helping their South Vietnamese allies. An outstanding example of this romantic patriotism is Barry Sadler's "Ballad of the Green Berets" (1966).
Fighting soldiers from the sky,
Fearless men who jump and die;
Mean just what they say,
The brave men of the Green Berets. Etc.
But as the war continued and opposition to it intensified, a stream of anti-war, protest songs like "Piss on Johnson's War," "Hitler 'Ain't Dead Yet" and "The Army's Appeal to Mothers" emerged. At the same time the folk compositions circulating in the military showed similar ideological polarities. Examples of this can be found in the songs of Army Air Force pilots. On the one hand they contain a very strong sense of the integration of particular groups of men and machines as part of their core of basic assumptions about life in the military organization. The classic statement of this cohesive relationship occurs in a song about a type of aircraft known popularly as the Thud, an abbreviation for the F-105 Republic Thunderchief, a jet fighter-bomber used in Vietnam.
I'm a Thud pilot, I love my plane;
It is my body, I am its brain;
My Thunderchief loves me,
And I love her too,
But I get the creeps with only one seat
And one engine, too. (Tuso 1971; Getz 1981; Jonas 1987)
Such total identification between weapon and operator suggests that the technological and specialized nature of the occupation can influence the degree of integration of the workforce as reflected in its folksong and social behavior. Tuso comments on the centrality of folksong to the social life of the pilots at some fighter bases, and even romantically compares the all-male, war-oriented culture of the officers' mess to the life of Anglo Saxon warriors in the comitatus! Certainly the war seems to have appealed to some participants as a kind of game, celebrated in "Wild Weasel" (Tuso 1971; Getz 1981) and sung to the tune of "Sweet Betsy From Pike."
Wild Weasel, Wild Weasel, they call me by name,
I fly up on Thud Ridge1 and play the big game,
I fly o'er valleys and hide behind hills,
I dodge all the missiles then go in for kills;
I'm a lonely Thud driver with a shit-hot fine bear!2 Etc.
On the other hand, many Vietnam songs expressed unheroic and highly resistant attitudes. Tuso (1971) reproduces an item from the songbook of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang which satirizes the unit's leadership.
Our leaders, our leaders
Our leaders is what they always say,
But it's bullshit, it's bullshit
It's bullshit they feed us every day! Etc.
A parody of the World War I popular song "The Caissons Go Rolling Along" expressed the anger and contempt of infantry draftees towards the volunteer professionals signified by "R.A.," presumably an abbreviation for Regular Army.
Over hill, over dale, as we hit the dusty trail
As the lifers go stumbling along,
Watch them drink, watch them stink,
Watch them even try to think,
As the lifers go stumbling along.
For it's heigh heigh hee, truly fucked are we,
Shout out your numbers loud and strong. R.A.!
For wher'ere you go, you will always know
That the lifers go stumbling along.
Stumble! Stumble! Stumble! (Brown 1969)
A parody of the "Ballad of the Green Berets" (Lansdale 1976) has
Frightened soldiers from the sky
Screaming "Hell I don't wanna die,
You can have my job and pay,
I'm a chicken any old way!" Etc.
A parody of "Take This Hammer" (Lansdale 1976) advocates nothing less
than the complete abandonment of combat service.
Take my rifle,
Take it to the Chieu Hoi3
Tell 'em I'm gone, boy,
Tell 'em I'm gone. Etc.
Unashamed, time-serving reluctance is expressed in "Short Timers' Blues" (Broudy 1969). A rotation date marked the expiry of the period of 12 months service which drafted personnel were obliged to serve.
I'd like to leave this country far behind;
This yellow streak is creeping up my spine;
I've got to see the doc 'fore it's too late,
I'm nearing my rotation date. Etc.
Cynicism toward war in general was evident in songs like "Dear 'Ole Dad" (Brown 1969) collected from a Vietnam veteran who learned it in 1965. It was always sung as a big group effort, usually in bars.
I want a war, just like the war
That mutilated dear 'ole Dad;
It was the war and the only war
That Daddy ever had;
A good 'ole fashioned war
That was so cruel,
But we all abided by Geneva rules
Hey! (Come in with gusto)
I want a war, just like the war
That mutilated dear 'old Dad
The basic patterns of assumptions in the organizational culture of most field units in Vietnam obviously contained room for the formulation of ambiguous attitudes towards the war and towards military authority and the level of individual motivation. In addition to advocating unheroic behavior, Vietnam songs featured a good deal of nostalgic, I-want-to-go-home sentiment, probably encouraged as much by the policy of individual rotation as by conscription and the ideological objections to the war that some draftees might have had. "Freedom Bird" (Lansdale 1976, Ellis 1980) expresses a kind of dream--like yearning for the coming of the aircraft that will transport the soldier back to the homeland at the expiry of his period of service.
I hear the sound,
Of that freedom bird,
Comin' down the way.
It won't be long now.
' Til I'm in the world.
It's been a long, long time,
It's been a long, long time,
It's been a long, long time.
The war also provided wide-ranging opportunities for protest and mockery along lines similar to those attributed to World War 2 conscript soldiers by Cleveland (1985). There were innumerable jokes about politicians, bureaucracy and the Brass, evident in the disillusionment and cynicism of compositions like "We are Winning" (Lansdale 1976) sung to the tune of "Rock of Ages."
We are winning, that I know,
McNamara4 tells us so. Etc.
A song called "Saigon Warrior" (Broudy 1969) sung to the tune of "Sweet Betsy From Pike" is a variant of a World War 2 composition which could be used to complain about base camps, training establishments, or headquarters anywhere in the world. For instance, a version sung in the New Zealand Army during World War 2 (and still in circulation in 1986) was entitled "Waiouru's a Wonderful Place." Waiouru was a much disliked training camp in a mountainous and lonely part of the country. (The source of this and other unacknowledged texts reproduced here is the present writer's field collection of soldiers' songs).
Oh they say that Waiouru's a wonderful place,
But the organization's a fucking disgrace,
There are Bombardiers, Sergeants, and Staff Sergeants too,
With their hands in their pockets and fuck-all to do;
And out in the bull ring5 they sing and they shout,
They scream about things they know fuck-all about,
And for all that I've learned there I might as well be
Shoveling up shit from the Isle of Capri.
The "Saigon Warrior" variant of this song collected in Vietnam by Broudy has Captains and Majors and Light Colonels too instead of Bombardiers etc. It is also organized in four-line stanzas with each one followed by a two-line chorus:
Singing dinky dau, dinky dau, dinky dau doo,
With their hands in their pockets and nothing to do.
It satirizes "Saigon Commandos" who have lunch at the Cercle Sportif (a fashionable club in Saigon) and wear a Bronze Star which they got for writing reports about the war. Then it concludes prophetically:
When this war is over and you all go home
You'll meet Saigon warriors wherever you roam
You'll know them by sight and they're not in your class
They don't have diarrhoea, just a big chairborne ass!
Broudy states that the text was transcribed from a tape-recorded performance
by Maggie, an Australian woman. This suggests that it may either have been
part of some Australian-inspired entertainment, or it may have originated
with the ANZAC forces in Vietnam. Dinky dau is a corruption of the Vietnamese
die cai dau, literally sick the head, hence, meaning crazy. This makes
no sense unless it is related to a traditional Australian folk ballad,
current in World War 1 and 2, entitled "The Lousy Lance-Corporal" (Cleveland
1959, 1961, 1975, 1982; Tate 1982) which makes repetitive use of the expression
"dinky die" as a chorus. This is a slang term meaning truly, emphatically,
indisputably.
Another Vietnam War version about an airbase is entitled Ol' Phan Rang"
(Broudy 1969). This follows the World War 2 text move closely, even to
shoveling sand on the Isle of Capri, but does not make use of a chorus.
Other songs with World War 1 and 2 origins that emerged among Americans
in Vietnam are a fragment of "The Quartermaster's Store" (Lansdale 1971)
and a parody of the World War 1 epic, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (Broudy
1969), but except for those of Air Force pilots, the songs of U.S. forces
in Vietnam do not retain many direct linkages with the World War 2 allied
services' repertoire, although their content has some strong similarities.
Fear of the enemy or of death, wounding or captivity could be brought
under social control by such expedients as calling the enemy Charlie, indulging
in humor about booby traps, claymore mines, mortars, or the fear of running
out of fuel, getting hit by a SAM missile, or having to make a forced landing
and ending up a guest at the Hanoi Hilton, a prison camp in North Vietnam.
Guilt and anxiety over having to engage civilian targets could be relieved
by the black humor of pilots' songs like "Two, Four, Six, Eight, Who're
You Going to Defoliate" (Lansdale 1976) and "Strafe the Town" (Broudy-1969;
Getz 1986). This perfectly reflects the mad, Catch-22 contradictions of
the war which by its fatal, obsessive technology of over-kill destroyed
some of the very people it was supposed to save.
Drop some candy to the orphans
And as the kiddies gather round,
Use your 20 millimeter
To mow the little bastards down.
Isn't that sweet!
Criticism of the War
In scandalous actuality, resistance towards the war reached the point
of demoralization in some U. S. formations, with insubordination, refusals
of duty, fragging of unpopular NCOs and officers, engagement in black market
trading and the consumption of drugs, while at the level of comic self-assertion,
some soldiers symbolized their personal autonomy from the military organization
by giving peace signs, wearing non-regulation clothing and growing idiosyncratic
styles of moustache.
The recordings made by Lansdale in 1967 had a highly original purpose
that arose from a fundamental disagreement about how the war should be
fought. The tapes were sent to President Lyndon Johnson, the Vice-President,
the Defense Secretary, the Secretary of State and to various officials
in Saigon including General William Westmoreland. The intention was to
impart a greater understanding of the political and psychological nature
of the war to the top decision makers in Washington, but this unique use
of folksong as a creative attempt to influence cultural perceptions and
to change the basic assumptions of the policy makers in the external environment
of Washington was to no avail. Washington was not listening to what is
perhaps the only example known to military history of folklore being used
as a device for the transmission of intelligence. If the policy makers
had been paying attention they might have heard a very sensitive account
of the dealings of American advisors with the Vietnamese peasantry, along
with this kind of plea.
Hello General Westmoreland
This is Advisory Team 54;
We can't take much more,
We're damn near out of ammo
And we haven't got much gas;
If you don't help us out
We'll be out of work for sure. Etc. (Lansdale 1976)
The command might also have adopted a different strategic approach to
the campaign, with more reliance on small group operations among the South
Vietnamese, backed up by counterinsurgency warfare on a larger scale, and
less emphasis on big operations supported by massive manpower and firepower
as well as the large-scale use of bombing and defoliation. This critique
of the operational conduct of the war also emerges in the comments of some
of its ANZAC participants.
For instance, Ross (1983:83) comments that Australian soldiers whom
she interviewed thought Americans undisciplined and unprofessional and
were critical of their trigger-happy tendencies and the way U.S. officers
wasted the lives of their men. Some New Zealand rank-and-file veterans
interviewed by the present writer considered both the Australians and the
Americans as inferior because they (the New Zealanders) had mastered the
techniques of jungle warfare that required a more stealthy style of aggressive
patrolling in the jungle rather than relying on open trails and large-scale
operations.
Australian-N. Z. Relationships
This attitude of superiority is a consistent element in the folklore
of the New Zealand Army. Cleveland (1984) describes how the presence of
U. S. troops in New Zealand during World War 2 gave rise to hostile parodies
of the "Marines Hymn" and other songs. In the Korean War a composition
entitled "They're Movin' On" became current among gunners of the 16th Field
Regiment of the New Zealand Royal Artillery Corps which formed part of
the Commonwealth Division that fought with the United Nations forces in
that campaign. The song satirizes the precipitate retreat of the U. S.
Eighth Army in the last days of 1950 when a Chinese army entered Korea
and began to roll back the opposing United Nations troops. It also adverts
to the existence of a long-standing rivalry between Australians and New
Zealanders. A Mama San is soldiers' slang for a female Korean. A 25 pounder
was the standard field gun used throughout the British and Commonwealth
forces during this era. It fired a 25-lb, 87 mm. shell. Noggies is military
slang for North Korean troops. Aussies is ordinary colloquial usage for
Australians.
There's a Mama San coming down the track
With a 25 pounder on her back,7
She's moving on, she's movin' on.
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,
If the Noggies don't get you the Aussies must,
We're movin' on, we're movin' on.
I hear the thunder of a thousand feet,
It's the First Cavalry in full retreat
They're movin' on, they're movin' on.
'Cause there's two kinds of man that they can't stand
A North Korean and a Chinaman,
So they're movin' on, they're movin on.
Ten years later in Vietnam, a composite ANZAC force (known as the Australian
Task Force) was made up of Australian infantry battalions plus two companies
of NZ troops from the New Zealand Infantry Regiment stationed in Malaysia.8
This has been in the region since 1957 when it became involved in the Malayan
Emergency. This was a sequence of operations against Communist insurgents
in what today is known as Malaysia. At the time of writing, the regiment
was still garrisoned in Singapore under a Five Power Defense Agreement
by which a number of Western powers have guaranteed the stability of both
Malaysia and Singapore. The NZ regiment fought successfully in the Malaysian
jungle and also in Borneo where it was involved in the Indonesian Confrontation
with Malaysia and Singapore. It evolved tactics that worked well and kept
its casualties down. The NZ infantry were also professional volunteers
with very high standard of performance. According to one informant interviewed
by the present writer in 1986:
We were highly trained and experienced and we welcomed the chance to
get into Vietnam where we could develop our tactics. We were away ahead
of any other troops in Vietnam. Each section in a platoon was completely
competent and the individuals in it were so well prepared that they knew
exactly what to do whenever we went into action. With close contacts at
25 meters you don't get a second chance. We fought as groups all the time.
We knew each other and we had great companionship. The Vietcong recognised
us and put the word around that we were professionals and that contact
with us was to be avoided if possible.
The Australians in Vietnam did not have quite such a high opinion of
themselves, perhaps because about 50 per cent of them were conscripts,
but the traditional rivalry between Australians and New Zealanders continued.
Barber (1971) reported criticism of the ANZAC arrangement on the grounds
that the NZ government having made the decision to enter the war, did not
put its wholehearted support behind the groups it sent. They resented their
lack of national identity resulting from their integration in an Australian
Task Force. "Second best" and "done on the cheap" were derogatory terms
that some NZ officers used to describe this effort. These allegations were
officially denied by the NZ military command and the NZ government, but
the taunt "Cheap Charlie" was directed at members of the NZ contingent
in the Australian Task Force because it had to rely heavily on American
and Australian equipment and logistic support. New Zealanders responded
by composing a version of "Cheap Charlie" to the tune of "This Old Man."
Auc de lai Cheap Charlie
He no buy me Saigon Tea,
Saigon Tea cost many, many P.
Auc de lai is Cheap Charlie.
Tan ti lan number one
He go jig-a-jig just for fun,
Tan ti lan is very much fun
Tan ti lan is number one.
Auc de lai means "big red rat," a Vietnamese approximation for Kangaroo,
and hence an epithet for those of Australian nationality. Tan ti lan is
Vietnamese for "bird that cannot fly," or Kiwi. This is an epithet for
those of New Zealand nationality. Saigon Tea is a colored-water drink supplied
to Saigon bar hostesses at excessive prices paid by customers. P is an
abbreviation for piaster, the Vietnamese currency of that period.
However, in spite of such discords there were very few morale, disciplinary
or drug problems with the Australian Task Force as a whole. There was some
hostility towards officers by the Australian rank and file (Ross 1983:87),
but there was a much stronger sense of unit cohesion than appears to have
been the case with many comparable U. S. formations. This owed much to
the fact that rotation was practiced on a unit basis so that an Australian
battalion would serve a period of 12 months and would then return to the
homeland to be replaced by another complete unit. This meant that the platoons
and sections retained their organizational identity as small groups and
were not continuously being disrupted by individual members retiring and
being replaced by strangers as happened in most U. S. units. This regimental
approach to rotation avoided the problems of primary group instability
and "short-time fever" noted by Kellett (1982:131) and other writers. It
may have accounted for much of the Australian Task Force's superiority
in morale. This may also have benefitted from the fact that the Phouc Tuy
sector where it was employed was not of major importance and casualties
were moderate. The NZ contingent in the force rotated its companies between
Vietnam and the battalion's base in Singapore. The New Zealanders were
also the possessors of a powerful military tradition which was central
to their organizational culture.
The Organizational Culture of the RNZA
This has been influenced by a history of participation in two world
wars in which New Zealand sent expeditionary forces overseas. The activities
of NZ troops in France in World War 1 and in the Middle East and North
Italy in World War 2 established the reputation of the NZ soldier as well
able to fight in the interests of his country when called upon to do so
(Wicksteed 1982) and contributed images of national identity that emphasized
both the resourcefulness and the ability of the ordinary NZ male to withstand
hardship and adversity and to perform in battle as well as, if not better
than, soldiers of other nations. Whatever its substance in actuality, this
belief has been generally sustained in the popular culture of New Zealand
and as part of the assumptions of any recruit entering its armed forces.
Because these forces are small in size, each individual member takes an
extra responsibility when on active service as a representative of a small
nation state and is expected to act creditably.
The behavior of the professional NZ soldier in the field is also influenced
by the fact that many of the rank and file are Maoris. This is a Polynesian
minority that forms a distinctive part of New Zealand and society because
it has managed to retain much of its tribal culture, customs, songs, dances
and language. Its traditional values attach importance to warrior-like
behavior. In World War 2 and subsequent commitments, Maori soldiers have
been notable for their combat motivation, offensive spirit and readiness
to take casualties.
The expectation that New Zealanders will fight well is reinforced by
the continuance of regimental traditions and customs that reach back to
the 19th century origins of the New Zealand Army and connect it to British
models of military organizational culture that have evolved from the 13th
century. An example of this traditionalism can be seen in the case of 16.1
Battery, an artillery unit which served in Korea and then in Vietnam with
the U. 5. 173 Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa, and subsequently with the Australian
Task Force at Nui Dat in support of Australian and New Zealand infantry.
The battery is part of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (RNZA).
The word Royal connects it with the Commonwealth Brotherhood of Gunners.
Recruits are reminded of this in an organizational manual entitled The
Gunners Handbook. In it they are told that
In joining the RNZA you are joining much more than just a regiment.
You are also joining a close family of gunners with links throughout the
Commonwealth. We share our history, customs and tradition with our wider
family, and this helps distinguish us from the other corps. We have formal
alliances with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Royal Regiment of Australian
Artillery and the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery.
The concept of family is not only a symbolic device of considerable
cohesive power, it also has extensive historical connotations. The regimental
family is headed by HM Queen Elizabeth II who assumed the appointment of
Captain-General of Artillery in 1953 on her accession. The Master Gunner
at St. James' Park is the head of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and is
the channel of communication between the Regiment and the Captain-General.
This appointment stems from the days of Henry VIII who first established
a permanent force of gunners in England. It has its origins in the days
when British monarchs appointed various people to specialize in particular
military arts like Wagonmaster, Trenchmaster and so on. These have long
declined except for the Master Gunner who is responsible for the proper
maintenance and accounting of guns, ammunition and associated stores.
At the administrative level, of the RNZA, a Colonel Commandant is a
distinguished retired gunner officer who is concerned with domestic matters
and the general wellbeing of the Regiment. The Director RNZA is the senior
serving officer in an RNZA appointment. He advises the Chief of the N.Z.
Army and his staff on all technical and professional matters connected
with the RNZA and is the official link between the Regiment and the Colonel
Commandant. An RNZA Advisory Council provides advice to the Director on
aspects of the Regiment's history, customs and traditions. Linkages with
previous members of the regiment are provided by a number of organizations
which include the New Zealand Permanent Force Old Comrades Association,
as well as several Artillery Associations and Artillery Officers' Messes.
The Handbook remarks that
Though a gunner may retire from the regiment or even transfer to some
other arm of the services he will always remain a gunner at heart. He will
continue to act up to the traditions of the regiment which nurtured him,
and keep alive the old spirit of comradeship we value so much.
Among the ceremonial observances of the RNZA are some special arrangements
concerning the acceptance of the guns as Colors. According to the Handbook
these are "an emblem to be kept bright and free from all reproach." On
ceremonial parades the guns are accorded the same compliments as the Standards,
Guidons and Colors of the Cavalry and Infantry. On non-ceremonial occasions
the guns are "always to be treated with dignity and respect." The badge
of the RNZA duplicates the battle scroll of the Royal Artillery. This was
designed in 1833 when it was decided that a badge would be cast to indicate
the numerous battle honors of the artillery. On this the motto Ubique (everywhere)
indicates that the Royal Artillery fought in every major engagement of
the British Army. A Crown appears above the motto and below it is the centerpiece,
a replica of the type of nine-pounder gun used at Waterloo. Symbolic linkages
with the Royal Artillery are also preserved in the colors of the belt worn
as part of the gunner's uniform. These are red, dark-blue and gold. The
red and blue are also the colors of RNZA flags and pendants while the gold
symbolizes the regiment's connection with the Sovereign.
Gunners' Day on May 26, is the anniversary of the formation of the
Royal Artillery by Royal Warrant in 1716. It is the occasion for a ceremonial
and social program in the various RNZA units. At formal dinners in the
Officers' Mess, gunners are expected to be able to sing a number of songs
that have been adopted by the regiment. These include musical arrangements
of several Rudyard Kipling poems--"Screw Guns," "The Young British Soldier"
and "Ubique" (a composition dedicated to the Royal Artillery).
Extreme, depressed, point-blank or short, end-first or any 'ow,
From Colesberg Kop to Quagga's Poort--from Ninety-nine till now--
By what I've 'eard the others tell and I in spots 'ave seen,
There's nothin' this side 'Eaven or 'Ell Ubique doesn't mean. (Hopkins
1979)
Informal aspects of the organizational culture of 161 Battery include a repertoire of unit songs. "The Gunners Battle Hymn" (sung to the tune of "The Dogface Soldier") is an affirmation of the unit's own special sense of its exclusive worth.
I wouldn't wanna be in tanks or infantry,
I'd rather be a gunner like I am;
I wouldn't change my jungle greens
For Ranger Squadron's cammed--up9 jeans
For I don't wanna jump out of no plane.
Chorus: And all the posters I read say that Arty is best,
Wearin' me down to put me over the test.
Well I load me a gun, and I come from One-Six-One
And I'm waitin' for whatever comes my way,
So keep up the ammunition,
Keep me on the gun position,
'Cause One-Six-One is okay.
Such testaments to regimental devotion have resemblances to the cadence tradition of the U. S. Army. For instance the "Gunners' Chant" (Johnson 1983:75).
I was born with a lanyard in my hand,
I'm a real straight shooter, I'm a gunnin' man;
They call me Cannon Cocker, and I'm number one,
I'm a '55 baby, I'm a son of a gun. Etc.
Or "Ranger" (Johnson 1983).
Let it blow, let it blow,
Let the four winds blow;
From the East to the West
Airborne Ranger is the best. Etc.
Or "Air Cav Trooper" (Johnson 1983:106)
I like it here on the Air Cav side
My trade mark is "guts and pride";
Can you do it? Can you pass the test?
And be like me, "Above the best."
Another composition current in 161 Battery in Vietnam was a variant of a well-known World War 2 song entitled "The Dugout in Matruh." Texts of this are reproduced in Cleveland (1959) and Page (1973). It is a comic lament concerning the lot of either the ordinary gunner or soldier, depending on which particular version is required. It has connections with the oral traditions of frontier Australasia and the U. S. The World War 2 version of this depicts the serviceman's life as one of mournful endurance and discomfort. Matruh is an attenuation of Mersah Matruh, a seaside village near the border of Egypt and Libya. It was used as supply base for desert operations by the Allied Eighth Army in the North African theatre in World War 2. To most soldiers who were involved in these operations, Mersah Matruh is synonymous with heat, monotony, thirst, flies, confusion, military incompetence and bombing raids.
Oh I'm just a greasy private in the infantry I am,
And I've a little dugout in Matruh,
Where the fleas play tag around me
As I nestle down to sleep,
In my flea-bound, bug-bound dugout in Matruh.
Chorus:
Where the windows are of netting
And the doors of four by two 10
And the sandbags let the howling dust storm through;
I can hear that blinking Eytie11
As he circles round at night
In my flea-bound, bug bound dugout in Matruh. Etc.
This has some obvious connections with a song collected by Colquhoun (1972) which circulated among shearers and the rural workforce of Australia and New Zealand.
I am just a poor old shearer,
I am stationed on the board,
I've got my little handpiece in my hand
Chorus
But I'm happy as a clam
In this land of ewes and lambs
In my tick-bound, bug-bound dugout in the True. Etc.
The True is synonymous with the Blue, an Australasian slang expression meaning some remote and under-populated district where huge spaces of empty and often vividly clear blue sky confront the lonely resident. The exact nature of the connection between the two songs in unclear, but the flea-bound, bug-bound dugout in Matruh may have been inspired by the shearer's tick-bound, bug-bound dugout in the True. Both have resemblances to an American composition, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" and would appear to be variants of it. According to Alan Lomax (1960,397) this was composed in 1881 by Linden Baker of Kernilt, West Virginia, after his brother returned from several years in Kansas.
I am looking rather seedy now while holding down my claim
And my victuals are not always of the best;
And the mice play shyly round me as I nestle down to rest
In my little old sod shanty in the West.
The hinges are of leather and the windows have no glass
While the board roof lets the howling blizzard in,
And I hear the hungry coyote as he slinks up through the grass
Round my little old sod shanty on my claim. Etc.
The parallels between the sod shanty and the dugout are evident. The mice playing shyly have become fleas playing tag; windows without glass become windows of netting; hinges of leather become doors of four by two and the hungry coyote slinking through the grass has become the Italian Air Force circling round at night. As an expression of protest against the hardships of life in adverse frontier conditions, variants of this song have traversed three occupational fields in at least four regions of the world during a period of approximately 100 years. Its appearance in 161 Battery in Vietnam, however, is less an expression of protest than it is a proclamation of the superior powers of endurance of the gunner. This is in keeping with the offensive spirit of the ANZAC in Vietnam and is perhaps the more in contrast to the discontents of some of their American allies.
Oh I'm just a greasy gunner
From One-Six-One I am
And I've a little dugout in Vietnam,
But the boys they took no notice
As they nestled down to rest
In that flea-bound, bug-bound
Dugout in Vietnam. Etc.
Such songs are an occupational folklore that locates 161 Battery in a continuous military tradition that has many linkages with World War 2. Thus a Vietnam veteran who served in 161 Battery as a Sergeant, when interviewed by the writer in 1986, was able to identify as familiar to him a total of 40 out of 132 songs that were current in 2NZEF in World War 2, which members of the battery had learned while exercising with U.S. troops in Hawaii under the terms of the ANZUS security alliance, before this was disrupted by the N.Z. Labor Government in 1984. But, in addition, he was able to sing several 19th century ballads which he had heard performed in the ranks at various times. One of these was entitled "Soldier, Soldier." Dalls (1967:52) attributes it to a 1900 field source.
Soldier, soldier, won't you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh, no, sweet maid, I cannot marry you
For I have no shirt to put on.
So she went up to her grandfather's chest
And brought back a shirt of the very, very best
And the soldier put it on. Etc.
This informant had been serving in the N.Z. armed forces since 1968,
much of the time as a sergeant gunnery instructor. His service record included
10 overseas tours during which he had acquired a repertoire that not only
extended across a broad period of time, but also incorporated items from
the armed services of several other nations. Such versatility demonstrates
the potentialties of the military environment for the informal transmission
of folklore among the rank and file.
This process can also be enriched by mythology. For example, the entire
structure of tradition, ceremony and symbol at the center of the organizational
culture of 161 Battery is also reinforced by religious legend. The patron
saint of gunners is St. Barbara. Although she was decanonized in 1970,
December 4 is still celebrated throughout the regiment as her feast day.
An account of her legendary activities is reproduced in the Gunners Handbook.
It describes her as the patroness of Fire, Cannon and Firearms and a protector
against "the thunder and lightnings of Heaven." In future she may also
have to serve as a protection against the intrusions of political adversity.
According to Pondy (1983, 163) the role of metaphor and myth in organizations
is to place them beyond doubt and argumentation and at the same time to
facilitate change by deepening the values of the organization in order
to give them expression in novel situations. This explanation fits what
has been recently happening to the RNZA. The small peacetime NZ Army has
always had a hand-to-mouth dependency on the political regime for funds
to purchase equipment and to modernize its operations. Consequently its
future has been affected by the uncertainties of party politics, the outcomes
of general elections and the attempts of central government to keep expenditure
under control.
At the time of writing [1988] the NZ Labor Government had, as part
of a shift in defense policy, refused to replace the RNZA's worn-out 155
medium guns and would not purchase modern, anti-armor, missile equipment.
The future role of the regiment and of the entire New Zealand Army was
also in some doubt owing to the virtual termination of the ANZUS agreement
on which defense policy has been founded for more than three decades. This'
followed on the government's insistence that no nuclear-armed (and hence
U.S.) warships should be allowed to enter NZ ports, and its attempt to
establish a nuclear-free zone in the Pacific. These policy shifts have
imposed a period of organizational turbulence on the NZ defense services.
As for 161 Battery, its personnel have twice had to adjust to the contradictions
of transition from active service first in Korea and then in Vietnam to
peacetime duty in the homeland. In 1971 on their return from Vietnam they
paraded through the streets of Auckland, the country's largest city, to
be unexpectedly faced by an indignant mob of peace protestors shouting
slogans, attempting to disrupt the parade and bearing placards that proclaimed
that "New Zealand troops are murdering in our name."
The Saigon Correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association summed
up the effects of the Vietnam involvement in these terms:
After six years of fighting in Vietnam, the New Zealand Army has withdrawn
to find its status reduced, its morale badly weakened and its future peace-time
role clouded over with uncertainty. For the first time, New Zealand soldiers
have fought, killed and died in a war that did not have the full support
of the people back home. Their original commitment was controversial, and
the war continued to divide the nation as they pulled out, victory still
in doubt, six-and-a-half years later. (Barber 1971)
Conclusion
The cultivation of myths and symbols that consolidate a sense of historical
continuity is a normal defensive strategy of organizations under attack
or exposed to hostile circumstances that challenge their purpose. Organizations
as culture-bearing milieus provide an environment in which people associate
regularly and can arrive at shared understandings. The occupants of military
organizations in the field have the cultural advantage of being closely
integrated communities as well as group networks engaged in the performance
of tasks, consequently much of their folksong is occupationally based.
Workplace cultures like that of 161 Battery, and the U. S. Air Force units
described by Tuso (1971) have their grounding in technological specializations
which give them a distinctive language of "unique" terminologies, codes,
acronyms and sign systems, as well as the symbols and metaphors that convey
the culture of the particular organization." (Evered 1983, 115-126). Thus
the artificial community of the pilot's mess is the functional equivalent
of the family of gunners and the fraternity of the RNZA or any other military
organization with a strong sense of its identity and traditions. Little
of this kind of research has been done in the U. S. but a cursory investigation
of the symbolism and mythology of aggressive formations like the U. S.
Marine Corps and some Airborne units confirms these findings. For instance
there is an elaborate sub-culture of hyperbolic, aggressive, self--assertion
at the center of the folklore of the Marine Corps that derives its inspiration
partly from events in the history of the corps and partly from the mainstream
tradition of American folklore. This cadence, circulating in a boot camp
in Texas, draws upon the elemental tall tale to case its hero in the image
of epic frontiersman.
Born in the backwoods, raised by bears,
Double-boned jaw, three coats of hair,
Cast-iron balls and a blue-steel rod,
I'm a mean mother-fucker,
I'm a Marine, by God! (Tuckness 1982)
Similarly, Airborne soldiers consider themselves the army's elite. There is a special insistence on physical fitness and a strong sense of regimental pride evident in cadences like
Airborne, Airborne, where you been?
Round the world and gone again.
What you gonna be when you get back?
Run round again with a full field pack. (Johnston 1983, 19)
Emblems like the paratrooper's wings symbolize the dedication of those who have a highly dangerous task.
If I die on the old drop zone,
Box me up and send me home,
Pin my wings upon my chest,
Tell my gal I done my best. (Johnson 1983, 95)
The songs and humor of such organizations express the socialization
crises of the individuals within them, as well as their degree of dedication
to the organization itself. The Thud pilot who is both the body and the
brain of his aircraft is symbolically related to the gunner who "wouldn't
wanna be in tanks or infantry" and the Air Cavalry trooper whose trade
mark is "guts and pride" as well as the Airborne Ranger who wants "to live
a life of danger" (Johnson 1983, 139).
Folksong in Vietnam performed much the same functions of expressing
both the dissent and the integrative idealism of participants as well as
their contempt for those in the rear as was the case in World War 2. But
on the evidence assembled here a tentative finding would be that among
U.S. soldiers, the inter-generational transmission of songs from World
War 2 to Vietnam was slight compared to the extent of this process among
professional NZ soldiers who were more systematically exposed to a regimental
tradition and more directly located in a symbol- conscious organizational
environment. Furthermore, the songs of NZ professionals in Vietnam express
little or no criticism of the war as such and illustrate the difference
between the organizational culture of a volunteer force and that reluctant
draftees. An exception to this, however, is the spirited motivation evident
in the songs of fighter pilots collected by Broudy (1969), Tuso (1971)
and Getz (1981) and composed by Jonas (1987). Apart from difference in
class, education and rank which may have exhibited themselves in superior
organizational and technical skills, these men appear to have evolved an
elaborate social life that encouraged the performance of a folksong rich
in the technicalities of their specialized duties and their vivid sense
of occupational community. Their songs also show a stronger sense of the
traditional past in that a greater proportion of them are adapted from
compositions that circulated in Korea, or in a few case, in World War 2.
All this contains important lessons for those who are concerned about the
maintenance and well being of the military organization, especially, in
periods of peacetime indifference.
NOTES
1. Thud Ridge was a ridge west of Hanoi where many Thunderchiefs crashed.
2. Slang: shit-hot means excellent. Getz (1981, W-ll) explains that
"The Bears" were electronic warfare officers who rode the back seats of
the F-lO5. "Wild Weasels" were two-seated F-105s especially equipped to
detect and knock out hostile SAM sites. .
3. Enemy soldiers who have surrendered under a U.S. psychological warfare
program directed at the Vietcong.
4. Robert McNamara, U. S. Secretary of State.
5. British Army slang: parade ground.
6. "The Isle of Capri" was a popular song in the late 1930's.
7. Alternatively: "Titty hanging out and a Kiwi on her back," a reference
to the ability of the Korean peasantry to carry enormous loads.
8. The acronym ANZAC was coined in World War 1 when troops from both
Australia and New Zealand formed an Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
for the campaigns in Gallipoli and France. This began a tradition of military
co-operation between the two countries which is still in place.
9. A Special Air Service (SAS) Squadron was formed in 1955 to fight
Communist terrorists in Malaya. It was known popularly as 1 Ranger Squadron.
The term "Ranger" was borrowed from Von Tempsky's Forest Rangers, a special
bush-fighting unit raised in New Zealand during the Maori Wars of the l860s.
It evolved guerrilla tactics suited to operations in densely forested mountain
country. The standard issue uniform in Malaya was known popularly as "jungle
greens" but the SAS acquired, through their own resources, American camouflage
uniforms.
10. According to B. F. ("Mick") Shepherd, a World War 2 veteran of
Auckland, New Zealand, an alternative version is "where the walls are made
of hessian and the windows four by two. "He points out that the standard
size for timber framing during this period was four inches by two inches
by whatever length was appropriate. As for the dugout, it could be a comic
reference not to a slit trench or some kind of sandbagged position, but
to a troops' latrine. "A dugout has no windows, nor does a latrine, but
if it had them they would have a four-by-two frame. The walls would be
of hessian and the doorway would let everything through." Shepherd also
dates the earliest known performance of this song in the Second New Zealand
Expeditionary Force as 6 September, 1940, the day the force's First Echelon
landed in Egypt.
11. A reference to the Italian Air Force
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