The Bugle Tag / Jungleers Song

Recollections of Hudson Phillips, Jr., about life in the Canal Zone circa 1940-42.

   My father, Hudson Phillips, was the Protestant Chaplain at Fort Davis, CZ in 1940-1942 (14th Infantry).  When he died in Buffalo, New York, in l996, a unit of the 14th Infantry came down from Fort Drum to do the funeral honors.  My brother taught the bugler the 6 extra notes that the 14th tagged on the end of every bugle call, during our tour at Davis.  The notes stood for "To the right of the line."  Every soldier at Davis, during this time would remember it.  We did, and when Taps was blown for my father, that is the way that the bugler blew it.  By the way, we had the original sheet music for the Jungleers' song (see below) and we gave it to the 14th museum.

   The following story was relayed to me by Dan Bunting, whose father was a line officer of the 14th at Davis.  Dan was a year older than I and was at Davis at the same time.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt  arrived in Panama in 1940 for a tour of our Canal Zone defenses.  He was driven to Fort Davis in an open car so that he could be seen by onlookers and so he could take in as much as possible.  To provide hospitality and maximum security, the men of the 14th were placed on either side of the road, leading from Colon to Davis in two long straight lines.  (I have seen a photo of this but I have not been able to locate it)  Dan Bunting had come, with his best friend, to see the President of the United States.  They could not see over the heads of the soldiers; so, they climbed out on the rooftop of a tall building.  As the car came even to the house, it suddenly stopped.  A Military Policeman climbed out on the roof and approached the two boys.  "Oh, oh, we're in big trouble", thought my friend Dan.  The boys were taken up the the car, which was still stopped by the house.  The President smiled and extended his hand:  "Any two boys who are willing to climb to such heights to see the President of the United States, deserves to shake his hand," he said. 

  

Jungleers Song

1.
Down in Panama there’s a dragon’s claw, -
And there’s none who dares molest it.
It’s the regiment that is competent,
To rout all who contest it:
And it can’t be beat by the tropic heat,
So throughout the hemispheres
As you march along, shout the fighting song –
Of the Fourteenth Jungleers.

2.
We will shed no tears for the Jungleers, -
We’re the outfit that can take it.
There’s no gorge so deep, - there’s no hill so steep,
hat the Fourteenth cannot make it;
So we’ll sling our packs high upon our backs,
In the Fourteenth Jungleers.
When we hit the trail we will never fail
With the Fourteenth Jungleers.

3.
In our dragon clan men have led the van, -
And have traveled west in battle.
From the Artic haze – to the jungle maze, -
They have heard their gun’s last rattle.
So we’ll drink a toast to our hero host,
Of the Fourteenth Jungleers:
Then we’ll march along to the fighting song
Of the Fourteenth Jungleers.

The Bugle Tag
Copyright © 2012  14th Infantry Regiment Association
Last modified: November 01, 2012