A Song That Helped Inspire The Patriotism Which Won WWII

Written By A Crippled, Rejected Cowboy

Common Sense Commentary: In the frightening, earliest days of WWII, one of the first heroes, after Pearl Harbor, was a B17 bomber pilot. His bravery inspired a young, crippled, rodeo cowboy in South Dakota, who was turned down for military service, to write a song from the deep longing in his heart to serve his country. Unable to ride, unwanted by the military, and feeling useless, he sold the song for $20. His song was recorded and swept across the staticky radio waves of the nation. The song did more for the war effort that he ever could have as a soldier.

Recorded Mar. 19,1942, just a few weeks after the war began, There's A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere  became a national treasure and a very big salute and motivating factor in the explosion of patriotism and united war effort which eventually won that war. RB

Elton Britt sings a crippled cowboy's WWII song he sold for $20. Read the words as Elton sings....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZMQEogi-0A

There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere 

In a distant land so many miles away.
Only Uncle Sam's great heroes get to go there
Where I wished that I could also live someday.
I'd see Lincoln Custer Washington
And Perry Nathan Hale and Colin Kelly too.
There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere
Waving on the land of heroes brave and true.
In this war with its mad schemes of destruction
Of our country fair and our sweet liberty
By the mad dictators leaders of corruption
Can't the US use a mountain boy like me?
God gave me the right to be a free American
And for that precious right I'd gladly die.
There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere
That is where I want to live when I die.
Though I realize I'm crippled that is true sir
Please don't judge my courage by my twisted leg.
Let me show my Uncle Sam what I can do, sir
Let me help to bring the axis down a peg.
If I do some brave deed I will be a hero
And the hero brave is what I want to be.
There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere
In that heaven there should be a place for me

Phil Schutt , a friend, tells of the writer of this WWII song which inspired many Americans to a higher degree of patriotism and enlistment in the war effort. RB

This song was sold by the (WRITER) for I think $20 and maybe a jug of
whiskey. I knew this man but didn't know he wrote this until the day of his
funeral. Carl (Little Hank ) Keenen was the writer. Keenen's were trick
rodeo riders, and little Hank had a very bad leg that was injured in a ro-
deo accident. He could not get into the service because of this leg injury
and that helped inspire the song. The song of course alludes to his
injured leg. Carl (little Hank) also had very bad eyesight in latter years. He
lived in Custer SD for many years had an old time record shop. He was
living in Edgemont SD when he passed away. His auction contained
thousands of record albums that were in his shop from earlier years. I
loved to listen to the many stories about his rodeo days and his
knowledge of music. Several years ago there was a TV program on S D
public TV about Carl and his life. Phil Schutt.

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Who Was Colin Kelly, mentioned as a "hero" in the song?

In the dark days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, American forces fought back against an overwhelming Japanese onslaught, with obsolete aircraft and equipment. With minimal resources and no hope of reinforcement, they fought a desperate, losing battle, hoping to buy a little time for the United States and her allies in the Pacific. As the Japanese advanced through the Phillipines, U.S. airmen and soldiers fought until they surrendered or were destroyed. Their valiant sacrifice is still remembered today. Representative of their valor was a young B-17 pilot, Captain Colin Kelly, who, with a handful of others, flew the first American bombing missions of World War II. Three days afer Pearl Harbor, with Clark Field under air attack, he made an emergency takeoff with three 600-pound bombs aboard. He located several Japanese cruisers shelling a landing area near Aparri. Kelly's plane bombed from 22,000 feet, amazingly, hitting a cruiser. On the way back to Clark, he and his crew were attacked by a squadron of Japanese Zeros led by top ace Saburo Sakai. They raked the Fortress from the rear in a running battle for several dozen miles, killing the waist gunner and injuring others. As the crippled ship began to fall to earth, Kelly held the controls steady while the others bailed out. As the sixth man left the ship, it blew up. His was the first B-17 lost in combat; Kelly was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
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TURN BACK AMERICA to the God of our founding fathers, the patriotic framers of out Constitution, and those who have served and died to preserve our American Freedoms.

It is understandable if young people stumble at the truth and fumble history, but it is unwise and unbecoming in middle age and inexcusable in the old who have, for many years, witnessed the devastation of error and ignorance. Turn back to reason, logic and Common Sense. RB


Email from a friend:
Really enjoyed the story and song ! ...... I have been to Custer and also to Pierre, SD to the ranch where "Dances With Wolves" (Kevin Costner) was filmed .... There I killed a 1,800 lb. buffalo with my .44 caliber Remington Magnum hunting pistol ........My buffalo might have been in the movie as a calf because it was about 4 years after the movie came out that I killed him ... A beautiful 60,000 acre buffalo only ranch with no interior fences (seems as if you are back in the 1800s on the plains) and has been in the same family for over 175 years !