I took basic training at Fort Knox in Kentucky in Jan. & Feb.For two months it snowed,sleeted,& freezing rain.As we marched we sang the Duckworth chant, but I had no idea the song was written by a local soldier, until I returned home after my tour of duty. Surely whoever who did not get to sound off in the service, at least has heard it in the movies. “The heads are up, The chests are out, The arms are swingin’, Cadence count, Sound off (1,2), Sound off (3,4), . . . Jody was there when you left (you’re right!) . . .” For well over half a century, the Jody (aka “Jody Call,” “Sound Off,” or the “Duckworth Chant”) has been the aural icon of soldierly life. This has been true in the U.S. Army, in other branches and around the world. In the entertainment world the Jody is a staple of military-themed films (starting with the Academy Award-winning Battleground in 1949, but also including Full Metal Jacket, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Private Benjamin). It appears also in various jingles (including, most recently, the theme song for the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants). In 1950 it was copyrighted as “Sound Off;” sheet music was published, and the chant was recorded in 1951 by Vaughn Monroe and a succession of others. No longer in the repertoire of American popular song, the Jody has continued an informal life among the ranks, and has evolved in various directions (not always considered fit for print or recording). The Jody was first heard in 1944 at and around Fort Slocum, NY. The first recorded versions appeared on an unnumbered V-Disc (undated, but recorded at the Slocum auditorium, Raymond Hall, sometime in 1945). The V-Disc consists of three different versions of the Duckworth Chant, plus an introductory track by T. Sgt Henry C. “Jack” Felice (1914-2001). That track, which has become the received narrative, offers one explanation of its origin: that it arose spontaneously on the way back to post from a training bivouac at nearby Ardsley: On a cold spring evening in May 1944 as the Provisional Training Center was returning from a long tedious march through swamps and rough country, a chant broke the stillness of the night. Upon investigation, it was found that a negro soldier by the name of Willie Duckworth, on detached service with the Provisional Training Center Fort Slocum, was chanting to build up the spirits of his weary comrades. It was not long before the infectious rhythm was spreading through the ranks. Footweary soldiers started to pack up their step in cadence with a growing chorus of hearty male voices. Instead of a downtrodden, fatigued company, here marched 200 soldiers with heads up, a spring to their step, and happy smiles on their faces. This transformation occurred with the beginning of the “Duckworth Chant.” Upon returning to Fort Slocum, Private Duckworth, with the aid of the Provisional Training Center instructors, composed a series of verses and choruses to be used with the marching cadence. Since that eventful evening, the Duckworth chant has been made a part of the drill at Fort Slocum, as it has proved to be not only a tremendous morale factor while marching.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 01:06:10 +0000
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