{"id":514,"date":"2019-08-16T19:42:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T23:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/?p=514"},"modified":"2020-11-02T03:23:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T08:23:08","slug":"blood-on-the-risers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/index.php\/2019\/08\/16\/blood-on-the-risers\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood on the Risers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

82nd Airborne: Normandy 1944<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

\"82d<\/h1>\n

Blood on the Risers<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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In honor of National Airborne Day<\/a>, here is “Blood<\/strong><\/a> on the Risers”<\/b>\u00a0is an American\u00a0paratrooper\u00a0song from\u00a0World War II. It is associated with all airborne units, including the\u00a082nd Airborne Division, the\u00a0101st Airborne Division, the\u00a0173rd Airborne Brigade\u00a0and\u00a04th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)\u00a0of the\u00a025th Infantry Division, and the 120th CTS (United States). This song has been featured on the television miniseries\u00a0Band of Brothers<\/i>\u00a0and the video game\u00a0“Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30, and also mentioned in\u00a0Donald Burgett’s book,\u00a0“Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy<\/a>“. Sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, the song tells of the final fatal jump of a rookie paratrooper whose\u00a0parachute\u00a0fails to deploy. This results in him falling to his death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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History of the 101st Airborne Division<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Lyrics<\/span><\/h2>\n

J. H. Kight copyright 1943<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He checked all his equipment and made sure his pack was tight;<\/i>
\n\u00a0He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,<\/i>
\n\u00a0“You ain’t gonna jump no more!”<\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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(CHORUS)<\/i>
\nGory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more!<\/i><\/h3>\n

“Is everybody happy?” cried the Sergeant looking up,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Our Hero feebly answered “Yes,” and then they stood him up;<\/i>
\n\u00a0He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He felt the wind, he felt the cold, he felt the awful drop,<\/i>
\n\u00a0The silk from his reserves spilled out and wrapped around his legs,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

The risers swung around his neck, connectors cracked his dome,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones;<\/i>
\n\u00a0The canopy became his shroud; he hurtled to the ground.<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

The days he’d lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He thought about the girl back home, the one he’d left behind;<\/i>
\n\u00a0He thought about the medic corps and wondered what they’d find,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,<\/i>
\n\u00a0The medics jumped and screamed with glee, they rolled their sleeves and smiled,<\/i>
\n\u00a0For it had been a week or more since last a ‘Chute had failed,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

He hit the ground, the sound was “SPLAT”, his blood went spurting high;<\/i>
\n\u00a0His comrades then were heard to say “A hell of a way to die!”<\/i>
\nHe lay there, rolling ’round in the welter of his gore,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0(CHORUS)<\/i><\/h3>\n

(slowly, solemnly; about half the speed of the other verses)
\nThere was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Intestines were a-dangling from his paratrooper’s suit,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He was a mess, they picked him up, and poured him from his boots,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more.<\/i><\/h3>\n

\u00a0Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,<\/i>
\n\u00a0He ain’t gonna jump no more!<\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

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Division: Life on Ardennes Street<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Chorus confusion<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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It is disputed as to whether the chorus says “Gory, Gory” or “Glory, Glory” like the original “Battle Hymn of the Republic”.\u00a0Since the song is often sung at a shout, it is hard to distinguish whether there is in fact an “L” sound when it is sung. Most likely, however, it should be “Gory” due to the relation the word has with the rest of the song (being about a paratrooper falling to earth due to two faulty chutes).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some versions of the song substitute the second line of the chorus for “with a rifle on his back as he’s falling through the sky”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Nuts!: <\/a><\/h2>\n

A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne<\/a><\/h2>\n

BUY THE BOOK<\/a><\/h2>\n

Images of America \u2013 Fort Myer is a pictorial chronicle of the first one hundred years of history containing over two hundred photographs, maps, and images. \u00a0Beginning in the 1860s and carrying through the 1960s it provides a view\"images of what was over time.<\/p>\n

An autographed copy of the book can be purchased at\u00a0BUY <\/a>TH<\/a>E BOOK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

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