The heart of every man in our platoon must swell with pride For the nation's youth, the cream of which is marching at his side For the fascinating rules and regulations that we share And the quaint and curious costumes that we're called upon to wear Now Al joined up to do his part defending you and me He wants to fight and bleed and kill and die for liberty With the hell of war he's come to grips Policing up the filter tips It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier! When Pete was only in the seventh grade, he stabbed a cop He's real R.A. material and he was glad to swap His switchblade and his old zip gun For a bayonet and a new M-1 It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier! After Johnny got through basic training He was a soldier through and through when he was done It's effects were so well rooted That the next day he saluted A Good Humor man, an usher, and a nun Now Fred's an intellectual, brings a book to every meal He likes the deep philosophers, like Norman Vincent Peale He thinks the army's just the thing Because he finds it broadening It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier! Now Ed flunked out of second grade, and never finished school He doesn't know a shelter half from an entrenching tool But he's going to be a big success He heads his class at OCS It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier! Our old mess sergeant's taste buds had been shot off in the war But his savory collations add to our esprit de corps To think of all the marvelous ways They're using plastics nowadays It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier! Our lieutenant is the up-and-coming type Played with soldiers as a boy you just can bet It is written in the stars He will get his captain's bars But he hasn't got enough box tops yet Our captain has a handicap to cope with, sad to tell He's from Georgia, and he doesn't speak the language very well He used to be, so rumor has, the Dean of Men at Alcatraz It makes a fellow proud to be Why, as a kid I vowed to be What luck to be allowed to be a soldier (At ease!)