27 Soldiers

[Music] [Applause] i am an american i come from fairview montana i am a frenchman and i come from paris i'm an englishman and i come from london i am i am an american i come from great water texas i am a poor i come from celestia i'm a welshman and they come from oregon south wales i am a new zealander i come from windham south island i am a canadian and i come from montreal i am an italian i come from farmer i'm a south african i come from johannesburg i am american i come from lancaster pennsylvania i'm an irishman and i come to court i am a frenchman and come from elsa i am an american i come from vast massachusetts i'm a brazilian i come from benue i am an american i come from rome georgia i am an american i come from brooklyn new york these are the men of the allied armies the men who fought and won the battle of italy they came from every corner of the earth soldiers from 27 nations fighting side by side on the italian front on june 19 1944 the allied armies of italy took elder and with it the palace of napoleon napoleon would have been surprised he didn't think very much of allied armies there is no army easier to conquer than a combination of allies yet 130 years later a combination of allied armies was again in the field a combination so varied that road signs had to be painted in a dozen different [Music] languages and there were so many insignia that not even the generals knew them all [Music] [Music] and three different mps might work on the same crossroads [Music] vehicles were dedicated to girls of five continents [Music] only the jeep was universal [Music] russian trucks had to bring wine for the french tea for the british spaghetti for the italian and corn deep hash for the yank at a water hole four nations would wash their trucks and themselves before battle they asked for strength in many different ways [Music] so many nations so many creeds and faiths and ways of life how were they welded into one fighting force it began in north africa when the combined chiefs of staff set up a joint command the generals knew all about napoleon but they were determined to make it work and as they fought their way across tunisia and across sicily general got to know general [Music] and then g.i joe began to know tommy atkins on d-day you found yourself on a british landing craft while many a tommy found himself going american that worked because no matter which flag it was you got that protected not by your navy or the other fellas navy but by the whole allied mediterranean fleet american ships [Music] british ships friendship to say nothing of the greeks the poles the hugo slobs and the dutch the pilot who watched the skies above you might be a south african farmer a boy from london or from paris or new york an australian from the pacific or a greek from athens their wings were different but they flew side by side [Music] in the mountains italian alpini were bringing rations to new zealand infantry to be relieved the next day by an american negro company while polish troops rolled forward over bridges built by american engineers of british materials and guarded by italian centuries at casino american 240s were supporting british infantry while british naval guns were softening up the coast road for the yank over at french corps american tank men fought under french commanders it worked surrendered to a dozen lesser breeds and if you were wounded you found that the nearest medic took charge no one stopped to find out whether you came from coventry or kansas or calcutta americans and british carried the same stretcher you had lived together you had endured together [Music] and some of you had died together [Music] but you had learned that if the man besides you fights well you respect him whether he comes from chicago or manchester or timbuktu if allies respect each other no matter what napoleon said they can win [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] these men respect each other and at retreat when they honor their comrades flags they know there's new glory for their own hey [Music] you