<p>Ok, so everybody is doing the patriotic movies and books things, and I love music so I had to ask. What are your favorite patriotic songs? I have so many but I’m always looking for more! Some of my favorites are:</p>
<p>Toby Keith-Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (Summer Seminar USAFA people know this one well) and American Soldier</p>
<p>Keni Thomas-he’s an ex-ranger who wrote about his experiences and feelings about his service, its pretty good!</p>
<p>John Michael Montgomery-Letters from Home</p>
<p>Those are just a couple of mine, how about everyone else?</p>
<p>As a teenager during the VietNam era, I remember SSgt. Barry Sadler singing “The Ballad of the Green Beret”. I’ve never forgotten the poignant words and melody of that song.</p>
<p>MamaSparrow - I was going to say that too. As a kid I played that one over & over. Had a brother in Vietnam & somehow it connected us. Can’t think of any other song that compare to that one. Thanks for mentioning it!</p>
<p>For you young ‘uns – this holiday classic was written in 1942 and became a huge hit because it represented the dreams of a soldier at war. I can’t hear it w/out imagining a young man or women thinking about the very things that he or she is fighting to protect (gettin’ a bit teary here…)</p>
<p>It’s also the song that Frank Borman and James Lovell asked for during the Geminii 7 mission!</p>
<p>My dad, a WWII vet, told me that when he was in North Africa during the war that the song “White Christmas” was not played for the troops. It was considered too demoralizing and sad.</p>
<p>I can certainly believe that – the song was a big hit on the home front, but could have been especially hard for those living it. I remember wondering if “The Ballad of the Green Beret” was ever popular for troops in Vietnam, or if that too was a home front song. Anyone know?</p>
<p>Does anybody remember the song, “Sink the Bismarck”? There was also a movie, but I can’t remember if the song actually played in the movie or not. I haven’t heard it in years but I recall, “Gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us”.</p>
<p>God Bless America. Doesn’t get any better than that. And I CANNOT listen to “I’ll be home for Christmas”. I leave the room if there’s people around so as not to make a fool of myself… It’s about like “I’ll be Seeing You”. Another I can hear from two miles away and dive for kleneex boxes.</p>
<p>my father was a WWII B-17, B-24, and PBY pilot (he was in the Army Air Corp that became the USAF, so don’t ask me why the Navy taught him how to fly PBYs in Corpus Christi), retired as a USAFA colonel (reserves), and he took us to that movie about the Bismark. (No, my mid did not apply to USAFA.)
I have an amazing CD, “A Patriot’s Songbook,” which is a companion to the book A Patriot’s Handbook, a collection of songs, poems, stories, and speeches celebrating the Land we Love, edited by Caroline Kennedy. My favorite selection is "My Country! “Tis of Thee” sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It also has “God Bless America” by Kate Smith and other classic American songs.</p>
<p>Sounds great - I’m ordering it. As a matter of fact I’ve ordered books from the library, movies from netflix, and now I’m ordering music. I won’t have any money left for brownies! :)</p>
<p>momoftwins
…not to mention airplane tickets and flat rate boxes at the post office. Now I’m buying black wool socks at Nordstrom too. Do upperclassmen at USMA subscribe to netflix? Upperclass mids do.</p>