Private Wilson White

Annotation

The song "Private Wilson White" (Robbins, Marty). Patriotic. (Columbia Records # 4-43500)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Private Wilson White, America is proud tonight / Proud to claim you for their hero, Private White / On a battlefield one day in a land so far away / Mid the rattle of machine guns in the dawn's first golden light / Twenty men lay close to death, nineteen of them held their breath / While one volunteered to save them, volunteered to give his life... / Nineteen lives he meant to save, not one backward glance he gave / As he yelled, for God and country, through an open field he ran / But the enemy had seen and they understood his scheme / And the fire from their machine guns knocked the rifle from his hands... / Seven bullets found their mark, seven bullets near the heart / And the force of seven bullets knocked the soldier to the ground / But his promise he must keep, and he staggered to his feet / Ran toward the four machine guns that pinned the soldiers down... / Bullets flyin' everywhere, smoke and gunfire filled the air / Onward ran the wounded soldier to keep the vow he made / Nearly dead, but deep within, was the strength to pull the pin / As he yelled, I died for freedom, he threw the hand grenade / Private Wilson White, America is proud tonight / Proud to claim you for their hero, Private White

Notes

Columbia 4-43500, ZSP 112681, 45 RPM, red label; "Private Wilson White" (M. Robbins), 2:14; produced by Don Law & Frank Jones. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

American country singer, born 26 September 1925 in Glendale, Arizona; died 8 December 1982 in Nashville, Tennessee. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Patriotic · Soldier's Perspective

In collections

US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]