I Wouldn’t Give a Bean, to be a Fancy Pants Marine….

My first duty assignment in the Army was with the 123d Signal Battalion in the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID). We were headquartered in Würzburg, Germany.

Cathy and I arrived in January 1979 and spent the next three years with 3ID. The Division had a long and storied history and earned the moniker “The Rock of the Marne” during WWI, while defending Paris and withstanding the last big attack by the Germans. Both of us learned the history, along with other details about the Division, including the unit mascot (Rocky the Bulldog) and the official 3ID song, “The Dogface Soldier”, which was played at the end of all Division level ceremonial activities.

Another tradition we learned about was the “Hail and Farewell”. The officers in our battalion held a Hail and Farewell every couple of months to welcome new officers and families, and to say goodbye to those who were returning to the States. Spouses were invited, and the events were usually held in a private room at some local German Gasthaus. There would be good food (Schnitzels, Cordon Bleu, Wurst Plates, Wild Plates, Käsespätzle and the like), and a fair amount of beer and wine involved. Stories were told, thanks given, and there was often a toast or two. Sometimes things could get a bit rowdy, but not usually.

At a Hail and Farewell in 1980, our Battalion Commander, LTC Ben Swedish, invited the 3ID Chief of Staff, COL Davis, to attend. COL Davis accepted, along with his wife. This meant things would probably be a bit quieter and more formal.

The night started out normal enough. After dinner, we said “hello” to the new officers, and “goodbye” to those leaving. Colonel Davis then stood and said a few words of thanks for our work, and our good job on a recent field exercise. He sat down to polite applause. Usually, things would quiet down at that point and people would start leaving, but Colonel and Mrs Davis didn’t depart, so no one else did. Cathy was our DD for the night, so she stopped drinking, but I, and others, drank some more beer and wine. People were circulating from table to table talking and laughing with each other. It was getting louder in the room.

I was talking with my company Commander, Captain Tom German, when there was a commotion behind us. I turned around and there was Colonel Davis with one arm around Cathy, and the other around Tom’s wife, Rhonda. The three of them started singing “The Dogface Soldier” –

I Wouldn’t Give A Bean, To Be A Fancy Pants Marine;

I’d Rather Be A Dog Face Soldier Like I Am.

I Wouldn’t Trade My Old OD’s, For All The Navy’s Dungarees,

For I’m The Walking Pride, Of Uncle Sam.

….

I’m Just A Dog Face Soldier, With A Rifle On My Shoulder.

And I Eat Raw Meat For Breakfast Every Day.

So Feed Me Ammunition, Keep Me In the Third Division

Your Dog Face Soldier’s A-Okay.

About half way through the song, others joined in, and soon the whole room was singing. Everyone was enjoying it. Well, almost everyone. Mary Lou Swedish and Mrs Davis didn’t look amused. As a matter of fact, both wore scowls on their faces. They didn’t seem particularly happy to see the Colonel cavorting with two junior officer’s wives, and they stood there frowning. You could almost see them thinking “What’s next a Roman Orgy? Virgin Sacrifices?” Cathy and Mary Lou had a bit of a history, as Cathy wasn’t exactly the “ideal” Officer’s wife – she was a bit too independent for Mary Lou’s tastes. Tom and I stood there laughing.

The song ended and there were many toasts to “The Rock of the Marne” among much clinking of bier-steins and wine glasses. Colonel Davis gave Cathy and Rhonda a hug, and was acting pretty happy. Tom and I both gave our wives big hugs, while everyone else was slapping them on the back. The evening eventually broke up and people headed off into the night.

Cathy and I talked on the drive home and I laughed and asked her “where’d that come from?” It turns out she and Rhonda were talking when COL Davis joined them. The conversation went here and there, and he said something about livening up the evening. He asked if they knew The Dogface Soldier song and they both said “mostly“. He asked them if they’d join him in singing, and after a bit of convincing, they agreed. The rest, as they say, is history. His plan worked and the evening ended on a very lively and upbeat note. Evidently, he hadn’t briefed Mrs. Davis on the plan…;-). Cathy and I still chuckle about the story to this day.

Rock of the Marne…..

Addendum:

• In a later twist to the story, a few years ago Cathy and I were at a German restaurant near Madison, Virginia called The Bavarian Chef. As we were having lunch and a beer, we were chatting with a couple at the table next to us, and it turned out the gentleman also served in the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany. Cathy and he sang the song together there in the restaurant, although at a more subdued level than the time with the 123d.

• At the time of this story, my West Point company mates, Chuck Allen, Bond Wells, and Steve Powell were scattered across Bavaria in other parts of the Division. Chuck returned to Germany as a Lieutenant Colonel and commanded the garrison at Kitzingen from ‘97-‘99. Kitzingen transitioned from 3ID to the First Infantry Division (The Big Red One) in 1996. Chuck told me “Germans in Kitzingen still sang The Dogface Soldier song “durch vielen bier und weinfesten” (at many beer and wine festivals), much to the dismay of the First Infantry Division’s Commanding General and Chief of Staff.”

• The Dogface Soldier was originally written in 1942 by two U.S. Army infantry soldiers. It was adopted as the song of the 3rd Infantry Division, and was widely played and sung during the war, and since then. (Info from 3ID Website)

• Rocky the Bulldog is the symbol of the 3rd Infantry Division and was created by Walt Disney himself in 1965. Just as there was in Würzburg, there’s a statue of Rocky at 3ID’s current headquarters at Ft Stewart, Georgia. It should be noted that in statues, Rocky is alway intact and anatomically correct.

• The 3rd Infantry Division continued to serve our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were the first unit to deploy to Iraq twice and then three times. Since then, 3ID, or it’s units, have deployed multiple times to both countries.

The complete words to “The Dogface Soldier”:

I Wouldn’t Give A Bean, To Be A Fancy Pants Marine;

I’d Rather Be A Dog Face Soldier Like I Am.

I Wouldn’t Trade My Old OD’s, For All The Navy’s Dungarees.

For I’m The Walking Pride Of Uncle Sam.

On Army Posters That I Read, It Says “Be All That You Can”

So They’re Tearing Me Down, To Build Me Over Again.

I’m Just A Dog Face Soldier, With A Rifle On My Shoulder

And I Eat Raw Meat For Breakfast E’V’RY Day

So Feed Me Ammunition, Keep Me In the Third Division

Your Dog Face Soldier’s A-Okay

During WWII, the lyrics to the last four lines were a bit different:

I’m just a Dogface Soldier, With a rifle on my shoulder,

And I eat a Kraut for breakfast every day.

So feed me ammunition, Keep me in my Division,

Your Dogfaced Soldier boy is A-okay.