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The Stories Behind Our Branches' Songs
- Gabrielle M.
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
If you've grown up around a military base, you're likely familiar with the songs of the military branches. The songs play at a variety of military events, such as Memorial Day or retirement ceremonies. I remember learning the Armed Forces Medley in fifth grade, and to this day, I still have it memorized. I always sing along to the lyrics, but lately I’ve been wondering where exactly they came from.
Each of the six branches of the military has a song. The Army has “The Army Goes Rolling Along;” the Navy, “Anchors Away;” the Marines, “The Marines’ Hymn;” the Air Force, “The U.S. Air Force;” the Coast Guard, “Semper Paratus;” and finally the Space Force with “Semper Supra.” These songs aren’t just formalities - they represent the history and core beliefs of each respective branch.
The Army’s song originated as “The Caissons Go Rolling Along” in 1908. Lieutenant Edmund Gruber was influenced to write this song by his unit while in the Philippines. They traversed through a difficult path and made it through, which inspired the song about the caissons (a wagon used to hold ammunition) rolling along through the hardships. The song was chosen as the official Army song in a contest. There were a few changes to the lyrics, and the song as we know it today was born.
The Navy’s song originated when the Naval Academy’s class of 1907 asked their band director, Lieutenant Charles A. Zimmerman, to write a song for their class. The students wanted it to be not only a class song, but also one that could be sung at football games for years to come. Now, the song continues the legacy not only as a football song, but as a song to represent the branch as a whole.
The first branch to have an official song was the Marines. Fun fact: the music to the lyrics originated from a French opera! The opening line, “From the Halls of Montezuma / To the shores of Tripoli,” references significant battles that the Marines fought in (like the war with Barbary Pirates and parts of the Mexican-American War).
The Air Force’s song also came from a competition. Robert MacArthur Crawford’s submission was chosen out of over 700 entries to be the branch’s official song, and he performed it to the public in 1939. Over time, the song became an important part of the Air Force. It was even played to the crew (which was made up of Air Force Officers) on the Apollo 15 mission.
The Coast Guard song is called “Semper Paratus,” which translates to “Always Ready” in Latin. This is the motto of the Coast Guard. Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck wrote the song in 1927. He came up with the words for the song while in Georgia and the tune while in Alaska!
The most recent song created was the Space Force’s song “Semper Supra,” which means “Always Above.” The creators of the song aimed for it to sound modern and futuristic, traits that are characteristic of the Space Force. While the Space Force may be relatively new, this song is certainly a great foundation for the traditions that will develop in the years to come.
No matter which branch’s song you may have ties to, it is evident that they all have a unique and meaningful history. Each song was carefully written and thought out, created to be a strong representation of its branch. Now, next time you hear a military branch’s song, you will know a little bit of the history behind it!
If you’re interested in this topic and would like to learn more about the stories behind the songs of each branch, check out these resources that I used while writing this article!