Temporarily.
Conventional wisdom says that the "Buddy" the song is about was KIA on the Western Front.
Turned on the TV today and TMC was running the first part of the Veteran's Day (AKA Poppy Day, AKA Decoration Day) Marathon. Caught the end of Hell Below (1933), a World War One submarine drama I'd never heard of, then The Fighting 69th (1940), finished up (for now) with Sergeant York (1941).
Once in khaki suits
Gee, we looked swell!
Full of that Yankee-Doodle dee-dum!
Full of that Yankee-Doodle dee-dum!
Ten thousands boots
Went marching through Hell
And I was the kid with the drum!
I'm currently reading Thunder in the Argonne: A New History of America's Greatest Battle, a 21st Century US Army officer's analysis of the final campaign of the First World War. It's pretty good, although occasionally the 21st Century operational terminology -- jargon, if you will -- can be jarring.
Nevertheless, it's an excellent analysis of the performance under fire of the American Expeditionary Forces. I'm not sure how realistic it is to regret (a hundred years ago, or now) that the US military had no experience with conducting combat operations on that scale, since... well, the closest the US military had to having that level of expertise was 50+ years in the past, in the Civil War. Even if Pershing had listened to all the advice the French and British had offered, it would have been too much to expect command and staff at all levels to do so.
Anyway. Recommended.
This showed up in my Twitter feed today. Not bad. World War I Centenary: 100 Legacies of the Great War.
And in my in box:
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