I'm doing a lot of research these days. Some of it is depressing as hell. But I hang on to the good bits

The best is this amazing long-running joke that I've found that involves three National Guard regiments, WWI, and a ragtime song about a hound dog

So, I'll share it with you

So it's 1916, right. Over 100,000 National Guard soldiers get called up for duty on the Mexican Border. It's a pretty dusty boring time. The regimental bands are about the only distraction, so they're pretty busy. There's 3 regts together in this one brigade: 1st NH, 2d MO, 2d ME

Now, the 2d Missouri is known as the Hound Dawg Regiment, because, well, of course it is. Their regimental march was the "Houn Dawg Rag," a toe tappin ditty that was irresistible to the bands of the other two regiments

Btw, they're now the 203 EN BN and have the BEST unit crest

The other thing you should know is that the band for the 2d ME is the University of Maine cadet band - apparently the only college band in the US Army in 1916. Well, they LOVE this song. They love it so much, that one night they get loaded, come back to camp, & play it at 0300

The regimental commander is less than pleased, summons them to his tent, & says if they like the song so much they can get up every morning at 0300 & play it

That poor guy

It backfires. Hard. News gets out. Everytime a soldier sees him, they begin humming/whistling the song

He takes it in good humor, because how long can it last, right? In a few months, they all pack up, and head off to their various homes, never to see each other again

Except for that whole World War I thing

Yeah

Less than a year later and the 2d ME & 1st NH are back again

The two regiments are mashed together to form the 103d Infantry Regiment. Now, this caused no little heartbreak, cause the 1st NH basically got broken up in this amalgamation. As the Granite Staters marched into camp in MA, they're feeling pretty low. But there's the Maine band..

And they're playing the Houn Dawg Song, and everyone starts laughing, the New Hampshire boys forget their worries and it's a New England reunion. About a month later & they're all on transports headed overseas. They leave from Halifax, NS... A big convoy, stretched over the ocean

A noble & majestic site. Right up until the band spots the regimental cdr on a neighboring ship, rushes below, grabs their instruments, & "the Houn Dawg Rag" floats across the ocean, as roars of laughter pour across the decks

By October, they're in France. Training begins through the winter, & it's cold, wet, & full of lots of marching. Troops come back from their training ground to the small French town where they're billeted. They're tired. Dispirited. Just drill & no fighting.

Every evening the regiment holds "retreat" - the final formation of the day. At the end, the band steps forward. The men perk up their ears. They know what's coming. At the first note from the trombone they let up a whoop & the entire bedraggled scene changes in an instant

The soldiers dance with each other, with the locals, small children join in, the old ladies smile & pause to watch, the old men - all the young men are gone - tap their toes and watch with sparkling eyes over their old pipes, this little piece of Americana

The song finishes, the men let out another roar, and then dash off to find their mess kits for chow, their apathy gone, their inherent good humor returned. All for that "Houn Dawg Rag"

But it gets better

The regiment fights through the war. February to November. Brutal fighting. Horrific stuff. Many casualties. But the end comes in November. March of '19 they head back to the US. In April, they're part of the Yankee Division Parade in Boston. Massive crowd. Biggest till 2004

The regimental commander is in the reviewing stand & sees his regiment come into sight. What pride he must have had, mixed with sorrow, for how many of his boys were no longer there. Right up front is the band, playing "Stars and Stripes Forever." Now. Here's the thing.

The band got SO good at playing the "Houn Dawg Rag" that they were able to switch from any song, no matter the key, into it. So when they spotted their beloved commander, the band swung at ONCE into the Houn Dawg Rag, sending a smile beaming across his face

Fast forward two years. It's a veterans reunion. Pouring rain. Mud like Verdun again. The veterans are huddled up, bitching, as veterans do, hurrying to get inside, when all of a sudden, they hear a noise. 10 members of the band appear, unprompted, heading for the building

They're playing some march but as they get closer, and as their comrades press around them, grinning, they swing right into the "Houn Dawg Rag" & just as they had for the last five years, the veterans forget their cold, wet feet and erupt into cheers

That story keeps growing, piece by piece, over the years. And everytime I find a new bit, it brings a smile to my face. I hope it does to yours.

The song is alternately known as the Missouri Dawg Song, or They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Around.

Enjoy https://archive.org/details/ByronGHarlanwithAmericanQuartet