A Song of Its Own

The Marines sing From the Halls of Montezuma, the Navy sings Anchor's Aweigh, the Air Force sings Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder, but the nearest thing to an Army theme song is the old horse-artillery number, The Caissons Go Rolling Along--and few soldiers have seen a caisson since World War I.

Last year Army Secretary Frank Pace decided to find an "all-Army" song. He set up a civilian-manned Army song board (from ASCAP, B.M.I, and six record companies), and by last week some 700 tunesmiths had sent in their entries.

The winning number: The Army's Always There, by Sam H. (Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree} Stept.

To a bouncy, football-rally tune, Stept had set some conventionally cheerful words. Sample: When there's trouble brewing anywhere, You can bet the Army's always there; Any place on earth we prove our worth, Ready to do our share.

In an effort to avoid offense, the song board softened one line. For "We may gripe and yell/ But we fight like hell" there is now an inoffensive alternate: "But we'll fight, fight, fight/ Fight with all our might." The song will have its official unveiling this week when Secretary Pace introduces it on Jane Froman's TV show. After that, the Pentagon will wait three months to see whether it catches on. If not, the song board will look around for another.

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