Proud American

Annotation — US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs

Hershel Gober followed up his 1966 Vietnam-related singles with a full-length album. The title The Proud American (Patriot Records # 91140) stated its patriotic stance. The back of the record said that: "These songs were written in Vietnam, where Hershel has served twice as a combat soldier. This is a soldiers' look at Vietnam". It then showed a picture of Gober performing to his "friends" at the Cam Ranh Air Base - President Johnson, General Westmoreland, and the South Vietnamese President Nguyen Cao Ky. The back of the record also attacked the protest movement who were "trying to sell America short and speak only of its weaknesses and what is wrong with it". It then praised Gober who "sings of its strength".1 The song "Saigon Warrior" is a comedy addressed to American GIs, which Gober wrote while touring around the hospitals in Vietnam. The lyrics criticised those who spent a lot of time in Saigon: "helping fight a war, pushing a pencil my finger is getting sore". It also focused on GIs visiting prostitutes in the Saigon bars, referencing the famous "Tu Do Street", the main location of these establishments. Tu Do translated as "Liberty", called that between 1955 and 1975. Formerly known as Catinat street (pre-1955), Hanoi re-named it Dông Khoï ("General Insurrection") after the fall of Saigon.2 This may be some sort of variation on another song, with the same name, but similar theme: "Saigon Warrior" performed by Maggie, an unknown Australian artist, recorded in-country during the war - one of the rare female performances from the Vietnam War. According to the article "Songs of the Vietnam War: An Occupational Folklore Tradition", by Dr. Les Cleveland (1986)1: According to the 1991 compilation In Country: Folk Songs of Americans in the Vietnam War, compiled Lydia Fish, which featured a version by US veteran Saul Broudy: A song called "Saigon Warrior" (Broudy 1969) sung to the tune of "Sweet Betsy From Pike" is a variant of a World War 2 composition which could be used to complain about base camps, training establishments, or headquarters anywhere in the world. For instance, a version sung in the New Zealand Army during World War 2 (and still in circulation in 1986) was entitled "Waiouru's a Wonderful Place"... The "Saigon Warrior" variant of this song collected in Vietnam by Broudy... Broudy states that the text was transcribed from a tape-recorded performance by Maggie, an Australian woman. This suggests that it may either have been part of some Australian-inspired entertainment, or it may have originated with the ANZAC forces in Vietnam. Dinky dau is a corruption of the Vietnamese die cai dau, literally sick the head, hence, meaning crazy. This makes no sense unless it is related to a traditional Australian folk ballad, current in World War 1 and 2, entitled "The Lousy Lance-Corporal" (Cleveland 1959, 1961, 1975, 1982; Tate 1982) which makes repetitive use of the expression "dinky die" as a chorus. This is a slang term meaning truly, emphatically, indisputablyThere are many military folksongs about rear echelon personnel. This one is descended from a British Army World War I song entitled "The Lousy Lance-Corporal." It circulated widely in Southeast Asia in both Army and Air Force tradition. It was sung by an Australian woman named Maggie as part of a song competition which provided the entertainment at a commanders' conference held at the Nha Trang headquarters of the 17th Aviation Group, in April, 1967. A tape of the concert was given to Saul Broudy by helicopter pilot and singer Gene Easley, who was later killed in action. (2)Sources1Proud American (Hershel Gober) (Back)↩2saigon-vietnam.fr: Tu do street↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation

Hershel Gober followed up his 1966 Vietnam-related singles with a full-length album. The title The Proud American (Patriot Records # 91140) stated its patriotic stance. The back of the record said that: "These songs were written in Vietnam, where Hershel has served twice as a combat soldier. This is a soldiers' look at Vietnam". It then showed a picture of Gober performing to his "friends" at the Cam Ranh Air Base - President Johnson, General Westmoreland, and the South Vietnamese President Nguyen Cao Ky. The back of the record also attacked the protest movement who were "trying to sell America short and speak only of its weaknesses and what is wrong with it". It then praised Gober who "sings of its strength".1 The song "Saigon Warrior" is a comedy addressed to American GIs, which Gober wrote while touring around the hospitals in Vietnam. The lyrics criticised those who spent a lot of time in Saigon: "helping fight a war, pushing a pencil my finger is getting sore". It also focused on GIs visiting prostitutes in the Saigon bars, referencing the famous "Tu Do Street", the main location of these establishments. Tu Do translated as "Liberty", called that between 1955 and 1975. Formerly known as Catinat street (pre-1955), Hanoi re-named it Dông Khoï ("General Insurrection") after the fall of Saigon.2Sources1Proud American (Hershel Gober) (Back)↩2saigon-vietnam.fr: Tu do street↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Tee Pee Records 834T-4533, red label, "A Subsidiary of Target Records, Appleton, Wis.", produced by Target Productions, ALPO Music; "Here Am I" (H. Gober), T45-34, 2:27, matrix UK4M-2906, backed with "Picture of a Man" (H. Gober), T45-33, 3:20, matrix UK4M-2905; credited to Capt. Hershel Gober. The LP The Proud American, Patriot Records 91140, Dermott, Ark., blue labels, 33 1/3 RPM: side one "Proud American" 2:45, "Six Klicks" 2:50, "Look Over My Shoulder" 3:46, "Here Am I" 4:00, "Forgotten Man" 2:45; side two "Saigon Warrior" 5:56, "Tropic Rain" 3:54, "Picture of a Man" 3:28, "Birth of a Nation" 3:10, "An American's Dream" 5:02, "Closing"; "All songs written and recorded by Hershel Gober", with Pamco Music credited for "The Proud American", "Here Am I" and "Forgotten Man". The front cover shows Gober in Army uniform playing guitar at a microphone before a waving American flag; the back…

About the artist

Born 21 December 1936, Monticello, Arkansas, USA

Themes

Patriotic · Military · Soldier's Perspective · Draft · K.I.A. · Demonstration · Anti-Protest

In collections

Draft Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years] · US Military & Veteran Songs