Watch these airborne veterans sing a paratrooper classic

Harold C. Hutchison
Feb 5, 2020 7:00 PM PST
1 minute read
Army photo

SUMMARY

Our veterans have done a lot for the country over the years. They keep us safe from terror organizations and dictators who would use weapons of mass destruction for selfish politics. They took down Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. They’ve led singa…

Our veterans have done a lot for the country over the years. They keep us safe from terror organizations and dictators who would use weapons of mass destruction for selfish politics. They took down Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. They've led singalongs of somewhat inappropriate songs. Wait... what?


That's right! Recently, a video went viral on Facebook showing Vince Speranza, a World War II paratrooper, leading others along in singing the paratrooper classic, Blood on the Risers, a parody of immortal Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Paratroops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade jump from a C-130 transport. They use static lines to ensure their main chutes open. (DOD photo)

Blood on the Risers is probably most famous from its rendition in the award-winning HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers. This morbidly funny tune is a cautionary tale about what happens when one fails to follow proper exit procedures during an airborne jump. The grim lyrics follow a young, rookie paratrooper who, after his chute fails to deploy, plummets to his death. The extended version, however, goes on to reveal that the singer has a son who would later join the 101st Airborne Division, serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and be killed in action.

Later versions of Blood on the Risers depict the son of the song's hero serving with the 101st Airborne, pictured above during the operation that took out Uday and Qusay Hussein, during the War on Terror. (US Army photo)

In some ways, it's very much like the Navy's Friday Funnies — a way to use humor to get important safety information through to the troops. This is especially important for something so routine as hooking into a static line.

Watch the video below and feel free to join in on the singalong! Don't worry, the Screaming Eagles have a pretty dark sense of humor — it's all in good fun.

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