(Sang with the same rhythm as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”...a.k.a Glory Glory Hallelujah! The drill sergeant would chant each verse and the troops would only sing the chorus when he finished. This was one of the more difficult cadences, so there was actually only one drill sergeant that would do this cadence)
He was just a cherry trooper and
he surely shook with fright.
He checked all his equipment and
made sure his pack was tight.
He had to sit and listen to
those awful engines roar.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
Gory gory what a hell of a way to die
Gory gory what a hell of a way to die
Gory gory what a hell of a way to die
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
Is everybody ready cried
the sergeant looking up.
Our hero freely answered yes
and then they stood him up.
He jumped into the icy blast
his static line unhooked.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
He counted long, he counted loud,
he waited for the shock.
He felt the wind, he felt the cold,
He felt the awful drop.
The silk from his reserve spilled out
and wrapped around his neck.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
The risers swung around his neck
connectors cracked his dome.
Suspension lines were tied in knots
around his skinny bones.
The canopy became his shroud
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
The days he lived and loved and laughed
kept running through his mind.
He thought about the girl back home
the one he left behind.
He thought about the medic corps
and wondered what they’d find.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
The ambulance was on the spot
the jeeps were running wild.
The medics jumped and screamed with glee
rolled up their sleeves and smiled,
for it had been a week or more
since last a chute had failed.
And he aint gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
He hit the ground, the sound was “splat”,
his blood was spurting high.
His comrades they were heard to say
“A hell of a way to die.”
He lay there rolling round
in the welter of his gore.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!
(chorus)
There was blood upon the risers
There was brains upon the chute.
Intestines were a dangling from
his paratrooper suit.
He was a mess, they picked him up
and poured him from his boots.
And he ain’t gonna jump no more!