Air Force Songs

US Air Force Song

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high, into the sun.
Here they come, zooming to meet our thunder,
At ‘em boys, giv’er the gun!
Down we dive, spouting our flames from under,
Off with one, helluva roar.
We live in fame, or go down in flames,
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force.

Minds of men, fashioned a crate of thunder,
Sent it high into the blue.
Hands of men blasted the world asunder,
How they lived God only knew!
Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer,
Gave us wings ever to soar.
With scouts before and bombers galore,
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force.

(different tune)
Here's a toast to the host of those who loved the vastness of the sky,
To a friend we send the message of his brother men who fly,
We drink to those who gave their all of old,
Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold.
A toast to the host of those we boast,
The U.S. Air Force.

Off we go into wild sky yonder,
Keep the wings level and true!
If you'd live to be a gray-haired wonder,
Keep your nose out of the blue!
Flying men guarding our nation's border,
We'll be there followed by more.
In echelon, we carry on!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!
 

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
 

It was only 10 letters, each of them two feet tall:

"Bring Me Men."

The words stood on the Terrazzo wall at the base of a ramp that cadets walk up on their first day at the Air Force academy - a symbolic threshold between an old life and a new one.

Bring Me Men went up in 1964, five years after the first academy class graduated. The words are part of a poem, "The Coming American," written in 1894 by Sam Walter Foss.

The words were removed on March 28th, 2003, as part of the changes instituted at the Air Force Academy.

It was, and still is, a powerful poem:

Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men to match my plains;
Men to chart a starry empire,
Men to make celestial claims.

Bring me men to match my prairies,
Men to match my inland seas;
Men to sail beyond my oceans,
Reaching for the galaxies.

These are men to build a nation,
Join the mountains to the sky;
Men of faith and inspiration,
Bring me men, bring me men, bring me men!

Bring me men to match my forests,
Bring me men to match my shore;
Men to guard the mighty ramparts,
Men to stand at freedom's door.

Bring me men to match my mountains,
Men to match their majesty;
Men to climb beyond their summits,
Searching for their destiny.

These are men to build a nation,
Join the mountains to the sky,
Men of faith and inspiration,
Bring me men, bring me men, bring me men!