Blood on the Risers

"Blood Upon the Risers" is an American paratrooper song from World War II. It is associated with all current airborne units, including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division, and the 120th CTS (United States) as well as British airborne units, also being known as "Mancha Roja" (Spanish for "Red Stain") in many airborne units from multiple Latin American countries. In Spain it is called "Sangre en las cuerdas" (Blood upon the risers in English).

The song is and was sung by troopers training to jump qualify as an act of comic camaraderie - by singing a somber sounding but comic song depicting their worst possible training outcome, members of the unit were able to not only hide their own fears, but use the fact that every one was equally working to hide theirs as a moment of bonding and genuine help in holding their courage, the song ending with the group assuring itself that if this did happen at least "You ain't gonna (as implied - have to, or gotta) jump no more."

This song has been featured on the television miniseries Band of Brothers and the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, and also mentioned in Donald Burgett's book Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy. Sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", the song tells of the final fatal jump of a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy. This results in him falling to his death.

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