Search For An Official Song
As the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard had already adopted official songs, the Army was eager to find a song of its own. In 1948, the Army conducted a contest to find an official song (Tom Lehrer claims to have submitted "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier" in this contest), but no entry received much popular support. In 1952, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace asked the music industry to submit songs and received over 800 submissions. "The Army's Always There" by Sam Stept won the contest, and an Army band performed it at President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural parade on January 20, 1953. However, many thought that the tune was too similar to "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts," so the army decided to keep Gruber's melody from the "Caisson Song" but with new lyrics. A submission of lyrics by Harold W. Arberg, a music advisor to the Adjutant General, was accepted. Secretary of the Army Wilber Marion Brucker dedicated the music on Veterans Day, November 11, 1956. The song is played at the conclusion of most U.S. Army ceremonies, and all soldiers are expected to stand at attention and sing. When more than one service song is played, they are played in the order specified by Department of Defense directive: army, marine corps, navy, air force, and coast guard.
Read more about this topic: The Army Goes Rolling Along
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