Dogface Soldier

by Bert Gold and Ken Hart (1942) [nb: cowritten by two non-musicians, who forgot about their composition after leaving the 3rd Infantry Division, this song was adopted for the division by its commander Lucian K. Truscott; marched to and danced to, this song was featured in the Audie Murphy film To Hell and Back (1955); "Rocky the Marne Dog" is a bulldog mascot drawn by Walt Disney after leaving the 3rd Inf Div]

I wouldn't give a bean to be a fancy-pants Marine
I'd rather be a dog-faced soldier like I am!

I wouldn't swap good weather for all the Fly Boy's leather
'cause carryin' my GI pack makes me happy as a clam!

I wouldn't trade my old ODs for all the Navy's dungarees
'cause I'm the walkin' pride of Uncle Sam!

On every poster that I read, it says the Army builds men;
so they're tearin' me down to build me over again!

I'm just a dog-face soldier, with a rifle on my shoulder,
an' I eat a Kraut for breakfast ever'day.

So feed me ammunition, keep me in the Third Division,
your dog-faced soldier boy's okay.

Dogface Soldier

Korean War version (1951)

I wouldn't give a bean
To be a fancy-pants Marine
I'd rather be a dog-faced soldier like I am!

I wouldn't swap good weather
For all the fly boy's leather
'cause carryin' my GI pack makes me happy as a clam!

I wouldn't trade my old O.D.s
For all the Navy's dungarees,
'cause I'm the walkin' pride of Uncle Sam!

On every poster that I read
It says the Army builds men;
so they're tearin' me down
To build me over again!

I'm just a dog-face soldier
With a rifle on my shoulder,
an' I eat a Chink/Gook for breakfast ever'day.

So feed me ammunition,
Keep me in the Third Division,
'cause your dog-faced soldier boy's okay.

Ballad of the Foot Soldier

I wouldn't give a bean
To be a fancy-pants Marine,
I'd rather be a dogface soldier like I am.
I wouldn't trade my old O.D.'s
For all the Navy's dungarees,
For I'm the marching pride of Uncle Sam!
On all the posters that I read
It says the army builds men,
So they're tearing me down
To build me over again!
I'm just a dogface soldier
With a rifle on my shoulder,
And I go from Casablanca to Bombay.
So feed me ammunition,
Keep me in my old division,
Your dogfaced soldier boy's okay.

Dogface Soldier

revised 1980s

I wouldn't give a bean to be a fancy-pants Marine
I'd rather be a dog-faced soldier like I am!

I wouldn't swap good weather for all the Fly Boy's leather
'cause carryin' my GI pack makes me happy as a clam!

I wouldn't trade my old ODs for all the Navy's dungarees
'cause I'm the marchin' pride of Uncle Sam!

On Army posters that I read, it says Be All That You Can;
so they're tearin' me down to start all over again!

I'm just a dog-face soldier, with a rifle on my shoulder,
an' I eat raw meat for breakfast ever'day.

So feed me ammunition, keep me in the Third Division,
your dog-face soldier's A-Okay.

Soldier's Song

On every poster that I read, it says the Army builds men;
so they're tearin' me down to build me over again!

I wouldn't give a bean to be a fancy-pants Marine
I'd rather be a dog-faced soldier like I am!

I wouldn't swap good weather for all the Fly Boy's leather
'cause carryin' my GI pack makes me happy as a clam!

I wouldn't trade my old ODs for all the Navy's dungarees
'cause I'm the walkin' pride of Uncle Sam!