Hymns for branches of US military

[scottinkc]

I am looking for (official?) hymns for each of the branches of the US military. I know that the hymn of the Navy is "Eternal Father, strong to save", but I can't seem to find any others.

By the way, I know that the Marine Corps Hymn is a "hymn", but in this case it's not what I'm looking for.

What I need is a piece which would be appropriate to sing at funerals for veterans of whichever service. And singing "Off we go into the wild blue yonder" as the casket is taken away just doesn't seem right.

Thanks for any help.

--Scott

[daisrael]

I am looking for (official?) hymns for each of the branches of the US military. I know that the hymn of the Navy is "Eternal Father, strong to save", but I can't seem to find any others.

By the way, I know that the Marine Corps Hymn is a "hymn", but in this case it's not what I'm looking for.

What I need is a piece which would be appropriate to sing at funerals for veterans of whichever service. And singing "Off we go into the wild blue yonder" as the casket is taken away just doesn't seem right.

Thanks for any help.

--Scott


I thought the Navy's was Anchors Aweigh, the Army And the Army goes Rolling along, the AF I don't know, and the Marines the one that starts off with From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli....

[spejic]

There are variations of that hymn for some branches of the service. Look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Father%2C_Strong_to_Save

Lots of organizations within the armed forces have their own prayers (like the Special Forces or the Army Corps of Engineers), but I can't find anything for the Army or Air Force overall. Seems strange.

[Nick_78]

I thought the Navy's was Anchors Aweigh, the Army And the Army goes Rolling along, the AF I don't know, and the Marines the one that starts off with From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli....

Yeah the name of the hymn of the Marine Corps is pretty tough to remember. ;)


:D

[scottinkc]

There are variations of that hymn for some branches of the service. Look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Father%2C_Strong_to_Save

Lots of organizations within the armed forces have their own prayers (like the Special Forces or the Army Corps of Engineers), but I can't find anything for the Army or Air Force overall. Seems strange.

Thanks for that link. I was unaware that the hymn is a general naval hymn, not just a US Navy one. I suppose that a similar hymn for the Army would be something like "Onward Christian soldiers". No idea what the Air Force would use, though. Perhaps something about angels soaring or something like that. Would any specialist unit recognize those verses in the wikipedia entry? I'm thinking in particular the Marine verse, or would Marines use Eternal Father as well?

Daisrael: I am familiar with those songs for the various branches, but was looking for something that would be more appropriate for church funerals. I recently was asked to sing Anchors Away at a funeral, and while the well-known verse wasn't totally out of place, other verses refered to football, in particular the Army-Navy game, or one which said something like "load up the TNT, and send them all to Davy Jones"

[Nick_78]

Thanks for that link. I was unaware that the hymn is a general naval hymn, not just a US Navy one. I suppose that a similar hymn for the Army would be something like "Onward Christian soldiers". No idea what the Air Force would use, though. Perhaps something about angels soaring or something like that. Would any specialist unit recognize those verses in the wikipedia entry? I'm thinking in particular the Marine verse, or would Marines use Eternal Father as well?

Daisrael: I am familiar with those songs for the various branches, but was looking for something that would be more appropriate for church funerals. I recently was asked to sing Anchors Away at a funeral, and while the well-known verse wasn't totally out of place, other verses refered to football, in particular the Army-Navy game, or one which said something like "load up the TNT, and send them all to Davy Jones"

I am a former Marine and I had no idea the hymn in that link existed. Mainly, I think, because I fortunately haven't had to attend too many funerals. Those I did attend didn't have anyone singing. They did play the Marine Corps Hymn, but much slower than you usually hear it played. That wouldn't really work for actually singing it though.

If you end up singing at a Marine's funeral, I would say go with the hymn in the link with the verse for Marines. While I wouldn't say everyone will recognize it, it is very appropriate.

[scottinkc]

So the first entry for "United States Army" hymn brought up this sight...

http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis/USA/songbook.html

WARNING: Audio

Army: God of our fathers
Air Force: Lord, guard and guide the men who fly (Never heard of it myself, but better than "Off we go into the wild blue yonder")

I guess the Marines would be Eternal Father (since they are a branch of the Navy) with the Marine verse included.

Thanks Nick, Spejic, and daisrael for your help.

[firstshirt]

Air Force: Lord, guard and guide the men who fly (Never heard of it myself, but better than "Off we go into the wild blue yonder")



Lord, guard and guide the men who fly is the Air Force prayer
Off we go into the wild blue yonder is the Air Force song....we sang it the other night in celebration of the Air Force's 60th Birthday, Sept 18th

[Scarecrow]

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly is the Air Force prayer
Off we go into the wild blue yonder is the Air Force song....we sang it the other night in celebration of the Air Force's 60th Birthday, Sept 18th

And if you count the years that it was the Army Air Corps how old would the AF be?

[firstshirt]

And if you count the years that it was the Army Air Corps how old would the AF be?

Technically you could say we go back to 1907 with the signal corps but the Army received the first plane in 1909. I guess you could argue 100 years old or 98.

[scottinkc]

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly is the Air Force prayer
Off we go into the wild blue yonder is the Air Force song....we sang it the other night in celebration of the Air Force's 60th Birthday, Sept 18th

Did you click the link I had above? There is music with those words. Do you recognize the tune?

[firstshirt]

Did you click the link I had above? There is music with those words. Do you recognize the tune?

actually I think we sang the hymn in basic during mass

[scottinkc]

I've gotten word from another Air Force vet who says that the hymn is in the Air Force hymnal, and also found a link (on the Air Force website, who would have thought?) which has the Air Force band and chorus doing "The Official Air Force Hymn". I'm guessing that between the hymnal, the band, the chorus, and Firstshirt, I can safely assume that the Air Force hymn is "Lord, guard and guide the men who fly" with that tune.

The Army hymn still was bothering me, though. I had only found mention of "God of our fathers" at a few Christian websites, but nothing which convinced me. So I went right to the source. I wrote to the US Army chaplain office and asked. I received a very nice and detailed reply. Here are some highlights:

There is no official Army Hymn. If you want to go with "Lead on, O King Eternal!" that is a close as you will get as of today.

Many Hymns throughout history have made the claim of being the Official Army Hymn:

a. In 1863 the Soldiers Hymn Book printed by the YMCA in Boston listed "America the Beautiful for Spacious Skies" and "The Star Spangled Banner" as the Army Hymn.

b. In 1888 according to the American Patriotic Hymnbook, "God of Our Fathers Whose Almighty Hands" was listed as the Army Hymn. Later that same song was referred to as the National Hymn.

c. "Mighty is Our Army" by Ralph Lee Bowerman won a competition held for the Army Hymn. However, it was not adopted.

We can find no record in either Congress or the Army of officially making any of these songs the "official" song. They were referred to as the Army Hymn most likely through common use.

The song associated with the Navy, "Eternal Father Strong to Save" came about because the choir master at Annapolis chose to end every service with that song. It was both popular and appropriate for worship at that time.

Currently the executive committee of the West Point Class of 1951 has been in contact with the Chief of Chaplains Office concerning their feeling that "Lead on, O King Eternal!" would be an appropriate hymn for the Army.

Lines like, "For not with swords' loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums, but with deeds of love and mercy Thy heavenly Kingdom comes," seem to well represent the Army. The hymn focuses on the Army's traditional roles and functions of training, preparation, and ultimately, of battle. On a historical note General Dwight D. Eisenhower called for the hymn to be sung in Westminster Cathedral shortly before the D Day landings in France.

The Chief of Chaplains Office does not seek to establish a Hymn. A hymn however, can establish itself among our ranks through use. There is no intent to force use upon the service members. However, we have made chaplains aware that there is a movement that exists which would like to hear the hymn sung.

So that settles that then. Now if I could only get a decent answer from the Marines. But any time you mention "Hymn" to them, they start that Halls of Montezuma crap. ;)

[Nick_78]

So that settles that then. Now if I could only get a decent answer from the Marines. But any time you mention "Hymn" to them, they start that Halls of Montezuma crap. ;)


The Navy Chief of Chaplains (www.chaplain.navy.mil) website doesn't seem to be working, but this site (https://www.npdc.navy.mil/css/chaplain/index.cfm) is the website of the Navy Chaplains School. If you look in the directory there is a link to email the director.

Oh, and just in case you weren't aware of it, just like docs, the Marine Corps gets its chaplains from the Navy.

[YankBastard]

Coast Guard's is "Semper Paratus"
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/cguard.htm

Army's is "Army Goes Rolling Along"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6QQGMcGfIQ

Marine's is "Halls of Montezuma"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d38xUsc-fyI

Air Force's is simply "Air Force Song" I believe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZenN39fP98