Marine Cadence

"Gonna run all day "til the running's done." That's just one of dozens of Marine cadence calls you'll hear on Marine Corps bases. These call-and-response Marine Corps running cadences and marching songs include inspiring or funny marine corps cadence lyrics that we are collecting for you in our Marine Corps Stories collection at SGT GRIT.

These songs and chants promote teamwork, and help Marines keep the beat of a marching rhythm while breathing more deeply as they inhale and exhale between each word.

An Army soldier in World War II is credited with the simple "Sound Off" cadence with the lyrics: "Sound-off; 1-2. Sound-off; 3-4. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4."

Of course, there have been hundreds of variations on "Sound Off" in the decades following World War II. One of our SGT GRIT customers submitted this one: "I gotta girl named Buffalo Bill. She won't do it, but her buffalo will. Sound off 1-2 …"

All military branches have marching drill cadences. One Marine shared this one with SGT GRIT: "Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. Jump right out, and shout Marine Corps."

Among other Marine Corps cadence lyrics to submitted to SGT GRIT by Marines are these remembered words from the Vietnam War era:

Mama, mama have you heard

LBJ has passed the word

Gonna go to Vietnam to fight and kill those Vietnam Cong

Now if I die in a combat zone

Box me up and ship me home

Fold my arms across my chest

And tell all the women that I done my best.

And this one:

Jump from the rack in the middle of the night

Make a head call and I'm ready to fight……

And this one remembered from serving on Parris Island in 1965:

Birdie, birdie In the sky

Drop a little white wash in my eye

I'm no swabbie, I won't cry

Gee, I'm glad that cows don't fly.

Another recently submitted remembered cadence:

Hey there, Air Force,

Get in your planes and carry me

We are Marine Corps infantry

Best you know on land and sea.

Hey there, Navy,

Get in your boats and transport me,

We are Marine Corps infantry

Best you know on land and sea.

Hey there, Army,

Climb in your tanks and follow me,

We are Marine Corps infantry

Best you know on land and sea.

Share the cadences you remember from Marine Corps drills with SGT GRIT and our readers.

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