Photo By 1st Sgt. Mark Hanson | The ‘35th Infantry Division Marching Song’ was produced and copyrighted on March...... read more read more
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The recent mobilization of the 35th Infantry Division to the Middle East, along with its corresponding centennial anniversary, has instilled a renewed sense of pride and interest in the Division’s long heritage and history. While most of the division’s history is annotated and catalogued across volumes of historical battle-field entries, one piece of the Division’s history had remained a mystery.
Cpt. Jennifer Denkler, a personnel officer assigned to the 35th, noticed that during ceremonial events, the 35th didn't have their own song to play.
"The 101st Airborne Division has ‘Rendevous with Destiny,’ and the First Infantry Division has ‘The Big Red One,’” said Denkler. “I bet we had our own song at one point in time.”
‘Marching songs,’ written and dedicated to returning units were not uncommon during World War II. During the late 1930’s and 1940’s many people globally had radios in their homes, and songs dedicated to deploying troops became increasingly popular.
“Nearly every unit at a Division level would have a marching song,” said Master Sgt. Jeremy Byers, the Kansas National Guard state historian. “The 29th Infantry Division, the National Guard division that the 35th replaced in Kuwait, has a well-known song called ‘The Boys of the Blue and Gray,’ that was written during World War I.”
The 35th Div. too, had a marching song composed during World War II, however only the lyrics had ever been located. The sheet music and any audio recording had been lost to time – until Capt. Denkler started researching.
“I asked former veterans of the 35th and a few Army National Guard historians who gave me the lyrics to ‘The 35th Infantry Division Marching Song,” said Denkler. “But I was told that the sheet music had been ‘missing in action’ for years.”
Determined to find the music and complete a missing part of the 35th's history, Denkler began doing some online research. She eventually stumbled upon a copyright number for the song.
“With the copyright number in hand, I contacted the Library of Congress’s archive division, requesting their assistance,” said Denkler. “Two days later, a music reference specialist in Washington D.C., had emailed me a digital copy of the sheet music.”
The ‘35th Infantry Division Marching Song’ was produced and copyrighted on March 23, 1944 during the 35th's final preparations to embark for Europe. It was written by Lt. Col. M.A. Solomon and arranged by Chief Warrant Officer L.D. Sites and Sgt J.W. Ahlin. The song was dedicated to Major General Paul W. Baade, the 35th Infantry Division commander during that time.
“This is an amazing find for the 35th,” said Byers. “The Kansas National Guard Museum in Topeka, which also holds the 35th Infantry Division Museum, has massive archives of photos, film reels, biographies, and documents stemming back to WWI – this really adds something special to that collection.”
“I’m just glad that I was able to complete that missing piece of our history,” said Denkler. “All that is left to restore it fully, is to have someone compose and record it!”
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2017 03:55 |
| Story ID: | 249199 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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