Rhymes of the Rookies: Sunny Side of Soldier Service

E-text prepared by Al Haines
Sunny Side of Soldier Service
1917
To the Colors
Here's to the Red of the Firing Line; Here's to a World White-Free; Here's to the Blue of the Yankee Sign; Here's to Liberty!
THEODORE ROOSEVELT Colonel of the Rough Riders
Who, more than any other one man gives out The Spirit and the Meaning of the AMERICAN SOLDIER
He's mostly gnarls and freckles and tan, He'd surely come under society's ban, He's a swearin', fightin' cavalryman, But—he's my bunkie.
He's weathered the winds of the Western waste. (You, gentle Christian, would call him debased) And he's loved at his ease and married in haste, Has my bunkie.
In a Philippine paddy he's slept in the rain, When he's drunk rotten booze that drives you insane, And he's often court-martialed—yes, over again, Is my bunkie.
He's been on the booze the whole blooming night, To mount guard next morning most awfully tight, Though he's dressed like a soldier when given Guide Right, He's my bunkie.
He doesn't know Browning or Ibsen or Keats, But he knows mighty well when the other man cheats And he licks him and makes him the laugh of the streets, Does my bunkie.