Civilize "Em With a Krag!
Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 3:01 pm
I hadn't read through this in a while. Thought I'd share for your enjoyment of our hobby and passion!
When I was a little boy, during the war and for a couple of years after, I lived with my grandparents. The man who lived next door was my grandfather's age. His wife died in 1943 and he was alone. He had been my grandparents' friend for some time. Because he was alone, my grandmother ordered him to show up for lunch and supper, just to make sure he was eating. To me, he was a happy man, always singing. He'd been in the Illinois National Guard during the SAW and spent about a year in the PI. Remained in the NG, got a commission, chased Pancho Villa and later went to France. Went from Pvt to Major. Always an infantry officer, he was 42 when he was gassed. He never really recovered, but it didn't stop his singing.
I learned many of his songs. He sang about civilizing Insurrectos with a Krag, not Filipinos. IIRC, the song has many verses. I'll dig them out if anyone is interested. The song has a name that doesn't have much to do with the chorus about a Krag. Maybe it's "The Carabao Song". Or maybe not.
I learned other songs, one that went "the monkeys have no tails in Zamboanga" and another "We're camped in the sand of a foreign land, by the mighty Augus River, with skeeters at yer nose and bullets at yer toes, and a kris perhaps in yer liver".