"The Old Sergeant" and Jodies

http://steven.newton1.home.att.net/ ^ | 2005 | Steve Newton

[Steve Newton]

Great stuff!

Steve

[Steve Newton]

Many armies sang while marching, but according to legend the first actual cadence was the Duckworth Jodie.

Steve

[edcoil]

I spent five years in the military, my brother did, my dad and grandfather , his dad and his grandfather did and that must be your legend because we have never heard of it.

[Uncle Fud]

Another version of the Airborne jody

So ya wanna be an Airborne Ranger

Live a life of fun and danger

Airborne, airborne, have ya heard?

We're gonna jump from a big iron bird

Stand up, hook up, wait at the door

Step right out at the count of four

If my chute don't open wide

I've got another one at my side

If that chute don't open too

Tell the devil I'm coming through

[Steve Newton]

Good Stuff

I am going to collect all of these and put them on my site

Thank you my friend

Steve

[Michael A Cavanaugh]

I am the historian of Ft. Slocum, NY (whence the Jody, aka Duckworth chant, originated). No it is not an urban legend. Pvt. (later T/4) Willie Lee Duckworth Sr. did not conjure the Jody out of thin air; but what he did was innovative, and involved the cooperation of other players, such as the post CO Col. Bernard Lentz, the post band, and the drillmasters of the Provisional Training Center. You can find a short general account of the development of the Jody on the Ft Slocum Features page of my website . On the subject of integration, while Truman did not make it official until years later, and while combat units remained segregated, there was limited racial mixing at Ft. Slocum during WWII. Duckworth was apparently one of 8 Black troops on detached duty with the Provisional Training Center in 1944 though within that unit they were kept segregated. Later, 1945-46 Slocum conducted rehabilitation training for court-martialed soldiers, and these classes were fully integrated. There are a number of photos of this, one of which is on the above page following the tale of the Jody.