Blood on the Risers

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"Blood on the Risers"
Song
Written World War II
Genre

"Blood on the Risers" is an American paratrooper song originating during World War II. It is set to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic ", which itself was adapted from "John Brown's Body ", a popular marching song during the American Civil War. [1] The song tells the story of a fatal training jump by a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy, leading to his death. Its dark humor and graphic lyrics reflect the dangers faced by airborne troops during combat and training and their methods used to cope with the reality of war. The song remains popular among modern airborne units in the United States and throughout the world, and it has been referenced in various films, television series, video games, and books. [2] [3]

Contents

Content

Sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", which itself was adapted from "John Brown's Body", a marching song from the American Civil War, the song tells of a fatal training jump of a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy, resulting in him falling to his death. Each verse describes the man's death and the subsequent condition of his body in the aftermath. The chorus mimics the chorus in The Battle Hymn of the Republic, replacing the lyrics "Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on." with "Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die! He ain't gonna jump no more." [4] [5] [6]

The song is a cautionary tale on the dangers of improper preparation for a parachute jump. [7] The protagonist does almost everything right but forgets to hook up his static line, which would automatically deploy his main parachute. Upon discovering this error during the jump, he deploys his reserve chute in a bad falling position. He becomes entangled in the parachute's canopy and risers, falls uncontrollably, and dies upon impact with the ground. American parachute rigs during World War II stored the reserve parachute in a belly bag, so deploying it in a bad falling position could easily lead to an accident similar to the one described in the song. "Risers" are the four straps that connect the suspension lines of the parachute canopy to the parachute harness. [6]

Origins

The origins of the song are unclear; the lyrics are unattributed. [8] It has been proposed that the song was written verse-by-verse by those in training at Fort Benning. [9]

Newspapers during World War II called the song a "paratrooper favorite". [10] [11] Paratroopers would sing it on the plane before jumping. [8] [12]

Modern usage

The song is associated with all current American airborne units, including the 11th Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division (Although they are not an airborne unit, and are colloquially known as "Legs"), 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 120th CTS (United States), as well as British airborne units. It is known as "Mancha Roja" (Spanish for "Red Stain") in airborne units from multiple Latin American countries. In Spain it is called "Sangre en las cuerdas" ("Blood on the lines"). [2] It is occasionally used as a marching cadence. [13]

This song has been featured in the television miniseries Band of Brothers . [14]

World War II veteran Vincent Speranza was recorded singing the chant in 2019; the video has more than one million views on YouTube as of December 2023. [15] Speranza later recorded his own version of the chant. [16] [3]

References

  1. Brunvand, Jan (1958). "Mountain Climber's Song" . Western Folklore. 17 (3): 198–200. doi:10.2307/1496045. ISSN   0043-373X. JSTOR   1496045.
  2. 1 2 Jans, Reg (November 1, 2016). "Blood Upon the Risers". World War Media. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Stilwell, Blake (June 14, 2024). "WWII Legend Vince Speranza's Extended Lyrics to the Paratrooper Anthem 'Blood on the Risers'". Military.com. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  4. "Blood on the Risers". March 4, 2006. Archived from the original on March 4, 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  5. Melchior, Robert J. (1991). 307th Engineer Battalion Prop Blast -- An Airborne Tradition (PDF). pp. 98–100.
  6. 1 2 "U.S. Paratroopers – Blood on the Risers (Gory Gory What a Helluva Way to Die)". Genius. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  7. "The James T. Callow Computerized Folklore Archive :: UDM Libraries / Instructional Design Studio". libraries.udmercy.edu. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Thompson, Robert (October 17, 1943). "Paratrooper Relates Excitement of Jump". pp. D1. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  9. Ruggero, Ed (2004). Combat jump : the young men who led the assault into Fortress Europe, July 1943. New York: Perennial. p. 26. ISBN   978-0-06-008876-7 . Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  10. "The Paratroopers". Transcript-Telegram. March 15, 1945. p. 6. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  11. Carroll, Lorna (March 28, 1943). ""Infantry of the Air" Demands Men With Steel Nerves, Tough Bodies". Tampa Bay Times. p. 25. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  12. Flanagan, E. M. (2003). Airborne : a combat history of American airborne forces. p. 385. ISBN   978-0-89141-688-3 . Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  13. U.S. Army Marching and Running Cadences (PDF). Clemson University. 2003. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  14. Johnny's War Stories (January 4, 2023). Band of Brothers - Blood on the Risers . Retrieved March 16, 2025 via YouTube.
  15. WWII Veteran Vince Speranza "Blood on Risers" 2019 Netherlands , retrieved September 13, 2023
  16. Vincent J. Speranza's Full Original Version-BLOOD UPON THE RISERS & BAND of BROTHERS-Music From WWII , retrieved September 13, 2023