Mamma Told Johnny Not to Go Down Town

When I joined the Navy a lot of people said it was a bad move, that I wasn't the type of person for that life and that I have a problem with authority. In addition I just never appeared to be that gung-ho type of dude. It is probably more of a surprise that one of my favorite things that I have done in the military was running cadence in Officer Candidate School. Navy OCS is not only run by Marine Corps Drill Instructors, but the best ones they have. In turn there are some serious son of a bitches working your ass fifteen hours a day.

My Drill Instructor was Gunnery Sergeant Carlsson. He was a Recon Sniper. He was a thin 150 pounds with 250 pounds of bad ass stuffed into him. I liked him a lot, and he didn't hate me which is probably the mushiest a man like that gets. When we'd run cadence, feet hitting the ground every 3/4 of a second with precision screaming about killing someone halfway around the world...you really felt like you could take on the world; and win.

"Just hit the sand and I know I am in Iran, we're gonna kill who is in command...."

"Greased Gun, K-Bar by my side, these are the tools that make men die..."

"Running through the jungle it's hot and dry, can't stop running boy you're gonna die, when up jumped a cobra and he looked at me, wanna be Recon go through me..."

"Up from the rack in the middle of the night, I make a head call and I'm ready to fight..."

"When I get to heaven, St. Peter is gonna say, How'd you make your living boy? How did you earn your pay? I replied with a whole lot of anger, lived a live of death and danger..."

Some of them are funny, others are terribly motivating but there is one in particular that is quite beautiful, and in this version one can actually hear the emotion of the Drill Instructor's voice while he and the men chant is moving down the road. In its entirety: (The first verse is interwoven after every verse)


Lo Right, Lo Right, Leeeeefta
Lo Right, Lo Right, Leeeeefta
Lo Righty, Lo Righty, Lo Righty Lefta

Mamma told Johnny not to go downtown
The Marine Corps recruiter was hanging around;

But Johnny went downtown anyway
To hear what the recruiter had to say

The recruiter asked Johnny what he wanted to be
Johnny said I wanna join the infantry.

So Johnny caught a plane out to Vietnam,
To fight some people called the Viet Cong.

Killed a hundred men with his rifle and blade,
Only god knows how many lives he saved.

Johnny was bad and he was brave,
Johnny jumped on a hand grenade.

Saved the lives of the men he led,
But now poor Johnny he was dead.

Before he died this is what he said,
To tell his momma when he was dead

Momma, momma, don't u cry,
The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fi.

Singin' Lo Right, Lo Right, Leeeeefta
Lo Right, Lo Right, Leeeeefta
Lo Righty, Lo Righty, Lo Righty Lefta

It is beautiful, touching and it almost makes me cry every time I listen to it. I think about Johnny's mom crying over his grave when she is handed a folded flag. About the Honor Guard firing three times in precision. About how that took place countless times throughout the years.

Then other times I think about Johnny being some punk high school kid with a bad attitude in a white t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes wrapped in the sleeve making fun of the athletes and the geeks, working on cars and cruising the strip. How they shaved that duck tail off his head and put him thousands of miles away to kill people he never even knew existed. And how even though Johnny was not the typical recruit he eventually was made into a man, when the time came he made the right decision. How thousands of Johnnys made the right decision time and time again for their comrades, their country and so many other reasons they never even thought of or new about.

I am confident that in this recording there was at least one recruit who was a Johnny but instead of 'Nam he lost his life in the mountains of Tora Bora or Fallujah. Right now there is another one singing this cadence in the early morning haze and heat of Paris Island who will do the same. It supports the idea, the existential idea that all those Johnnys are still living, as long as the Uniform survives so does the man, as long as there are men willing to sign on that line, so does his spirit and with that so do us all. "Lo Right Lo Right Leeeefta, Lo Right Lo Right Leeeefta..."


Here is the actual song, the video is worthless as the song is beautiful.