Oh Danny Boy

soldiers

World War I:  At the Front in France

Danny Boy is the story of a mother singing to her last son. Her husband and eldest son had already left their home and gone off to war (World War I), where they had both been killed in the fighting. And now, the mother was saying goodbye to her only remaining boy, also on his way to war—not asking him to stay, but thinking about what might be when her son, she prayed, came home again someday.

Presented here in memory of my forever cherished comrades who gave their lives fighting for the cause of freedom and right in World War II (103rd Infantry Division - France, Germany, Austria, and into Italy).

This beautful song poignantly expresses the feelings of my mother and father. Four of their five sons (sadly, they had no daughters) fought in World War II (two in the Navy, two in the Army) and the youngest fought in the Korean War (Army). Our father was still in training in Oregon when World War I ended so, thankfully, he did not experience combat.



Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying.
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow.
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow.
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be,
You'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me,
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be.
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.


Later Additions on Dates Given


Wendell Hall - Jan 29, 2010 View | Viewers

So beautiful and touching I try to widely share it. Another version of the lyrics touched the hearts of parents whose children were engaged in World War combat. My own father, dearly beloved Howard Hall, was in training at Ft. Lewis, WA and about to embark for Europe and combat when the war ended.

Read what others had to say:

Jeannie Brooks - Jan 29, 2010 Viewers | Reply to this item

One of my favorites! Thanks Dad.

Carolyn Marriott - Feb 28, 2010 Viewers | Reply to this item

Daddy Boy, is the Wikipedia article about the 103rd Infantry Division accurate? Did you arrive in Marseilles in April with the "Cactus Division"? Are you ready for me to pick your brains next week? I have been so amazed as I have studied about WW II lately that my own babilindo was there for the horror of it all.

Wendell Hall - Mar 1, 2010 Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item

Dear Carely Girly,

That is really far off base! We landed in Marseille at 1300 Friday, October 20, 15 days in bunks stacked 5 or 6 high, barely room to turn over even for skinny guys unlike me. On deck as often as possible (turns were scheduled and tightly controlled) and I wished those sea-sick guys would've vomited overboard stid of on the deck. Odd thing: I've been sea sick only once in my life--when we returned from Vienna (Pom, Mom, Johnny, Jeannie) and ran into a vicious storm just off the coast at Boston.

I recall that in Marseille that day the weather was rather nippy. The coldest winter of the century up to then was on its way. To expedite things, the troops disembarked without equipment and duffel bags. Hall, as y'all might suppose, was one of those assigned to unload. Up and down, back up and back down staggering up about three decks as I remember. Maybe it was five. I had such a jolt of adrenaline, combat yards away (oh, right, meters in France) that I labored tirelessly. Fortunate us! Free French forces, as they were called, had cleared the area of German invaders so that we could land, and we encountered no resistance until arriving in Alsace-Lorraine on the approaches to the Rhine River.

The Army published two books that are in my possession: From Bruyeres to Brenner (411th Infantry Regiment) and Report after Action (103rd Infantry Division). Have a look if you'd like when you come. Do you intend to pick my brains with an ice pick or one of those pick and shovel ones?

Correction! It's Babbiguapo. ("Babbo" is from Italian, as you know.) "Lindo" sounds somewhat effeminate. Since I am still so youthful at age 86, you may call me Daddyladdy.

Horror is right! We called our great commanding officer, Colonel Donovan P. Yuell, "old blood and guts." Oh, oh, oh! Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay! Blood and guts! How terrible. How awful. Can you imagine the blood and the mutilated corpse on the ground when close friend Bill Schor, our first casualty, was slaughtered by enemy shrapnel practically at my side? Ah, Bill! After all these years, I still find myself singing "Nights are long since you went away, I think about you all through the day, my buddy, my buddy, your buddy misses you."

Can't wait to see you again, Golden Girl.

Click to repeat with the lyrics to Derry Vale.