MY MAMMA DONE TOLD ME!
I remember the first few lines of this song, “Blues in the Night”, as in the title of the song. I heard the song in a movie I watching in an open field with the rest of the GI’s. The movie was shown in an open field beside an Army hospital where the American battle wounded soldiers were treated during the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, 1944. The hospital was no more than the town church, and inside this church lay rows of beds for the wounded soldiers . This Spanish architecture of concrete and stone church was very similar to the ones you see in the Southwest US. Following his usual routine, the church catholic priest would still say mass at the front altar every morning!
What was the movie about? It was about a US pilot downed during the war and came back to his training Air Force school as a ghost instructor. This killed pilot was played by the actor, Spencer Tracy. He left a fiancée whom he obviously did not marry. And in one scene he was supposedly guiding a cadet pilot doing his solo flight. Spencer Tracy, the ghost instructor, was sitting on the back behind the cadet pilot and in one scene, he was irritably annoyed. Because this young cadet for one thing, was now dating his former fiancée. And while flying, this young cadet would start singing, “My mamma done told me!”. So Tracy, the ghost instructor would shout back, “Quit talking about what your mamma had told you and concentrate on your flying”. Being a ghost he supposedly could not be heard.
Why was this movie shown in the open area? By that time the Japanese planes in the area were pretty much decimated. And so there was no danger of enemy bombings. Not long before then, I had the interesting experience of seeing a US plane chasing a Jap plane . Then, after a few machine gun bursts, down went the Jap plane. I was imagining that the local natives were already rushing to the downed plane salvaging whatever aluminum scrap metal they could salvage. They would melt this aluminum metal to make pots and pans.
What was I doing hanging around that hospital area? It so happened my youngest brother was recuperating from a brain injury he sustained during a bombing raid, ironically by American planes. This happened when US planes bombed the town center a couple of weeks prior to the US landing in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. (General Douglas Mac Arthur himself landed on the beach with the first wave of infantry men). Before the landing, some US planes were reconnoitering the town area. Suddenly these US pilots were annoyed because Japanese anti aircraft guns started shooting at them. They proceeded to bomb the vicinity. Half of the house we were in was blown off. One person in our group died and a few wounded. Walking through the town streets later, we passed more dead civilians. General Douglas Mac Arthur landed on the beach soon after the first wave infantry men hit the beach. He strolled on the beach about 10 miles from where we were.
Days after the landing, an Evacuation Army Hospital was set up in town. An army major brain surgeon and his team picked up my brother, set him on a stretcher in a jeep for the army hospital. And he proceeded with an operation the next day. This team of jeeps had to travel through beside bamboo thick river trails outside town. We felt safer evacuating to the countryside bundocks after the bombings. Luckily, my father was a great diplomat, pleading with the US army soon as they secured the nearby town we were in. My wounded brother was beginning to go blind from possibly an infection. Anyway, here I was making my routine visits to see my youngest brother in the hospital.
While making my routine rounds of visits, I would pass through the center ailes of this hospital church and see these wounded GI’s. One wouded soldier particularly stuck in my mind. Because he had an open stomach wound and his inside guts were plainly uncovered. During my passings through I heard him shout a couple of times, “Momma”. I believe this kid was only in his teens. Not much older then my oldest brother. A few days later, I saw his bed empty and clean. So I asked the GI nearby where he was. He grimly said, “He died last night”. For a 12 year old, this made a lasting impression on me. I am now convinced what a powerful impression “Momma” makes on her child.
MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME
WHEN I WAS IN KNEE PANTS
MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME SO
AH HUEY AH HUEY, AH CLICKITY-CLOCK
I’VE GOT THE BLUES IN THE NIGHT
I remember the first few lines of this song, “Blues in the Night”, as in the title of the song. I heard the song in a movie I watching in an open field with the rest of the GI’s. The movie was shown in an open field beside an Army hospital where the American battle wounded soldiers were treated during the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, 1944. The hospital was no more than the town church, and inside this church lay rows of beds for the wounded soldiers . This Spanish architecture of concrete and stone church was very similar to the ones you see in the Southwest US. Following his usual routine, the church catholic priest would still say mass at the front altar every morning!
What was the movie about? It was about a US pilot downed during the war and came back to his training Air Force school as a ghost instructor. This killed pilot was played by the actor, Spencer Tracy. He left a fiancée whom he obviously did not marry. And in one scene he was supposedly guiding a cadet pilot doing his solo flight. Spencer Tracy, the ghost instructor, was sitting on the back behind the cadet pilot and in one scene, he was irritably annoyed. Because this young cadet for one thing, was now dating his former fiancée. And while flying, this young cadet would start singing, “My mamma done told me!”. So Tracy, the ghost instructor would shout back, “Quit talking about what your mamma had told you and concentrate on your flying”. Being a ghost he supposedly could not be heard.
Why was this movie shown in the open area? By that time the Japanese planes in the area were pretty much decimated. And so there was no danger of enemy bombings. Not long before then, I had the interesting experience of seeing a US plane chasing a Jap plane . Then, after a few machine gun bursts, down went the Jap plane. I was imagining that the local natives were already rushing to the downed plane salvaging whatever aluminum scrap metal they could salvage. They would melt this aluminum metal to make pots and pans.
What was I doing hanging around that hospital area? It so happened my youngest brother was recuperating from a brain injury he sustained during a bombing raid, ironically by American planes. This happened when US planes bombed the town center a couple of weeks prior to the US landing in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. (General Douglas Mac Arthur himself landed on the beach with the first wave of infantry men). Before the landing, some US planes were reconnoitering the town area. Suddenly these US pilots were annoyed because Japanese anti aircraft guns started shooting at them. They proceeded to bomb the vicinity. Half of the house we were in was blown off. One person in our group died and a few wounded. Walking through the town streets later, we passed more dead civilians. General Douglas Mac Arthur landed on the beach soon after the first wave infantry men hit the beach. He strolled on the beach about 10 miles from where we were.
Days after the landing, an Evacuation Army Hospital was set up in town. An army major brain surgeon and his team picked up my brother, set him on a stretcher in a jeep for the army hospital. And he proceeded with an operation the next day. This team of jeeps had to travel through beside bamboo thick river trails outside town. We felt safer evacuating to the countryside bundocks after the bombings. Luckily, my father was a great diplomat, pleading with the US army soon as they secured the nearby town we were in. My wounded brother was beginning to go blind from possibly an infection. Anyway, here I was making my routine visits to see my youngest brother in the hospital.
While making my routine rounds of visits, I would pass through the center ailes of this hospital church and see these wounded GI’s. One wouded soldier particularly stuck in my mind. Because he had an open stomach wound and his inside guts were plainly uncovered. During my passings through I heard him shout a couple of times, “Momma”. I believe this kid was only in his teens. Not much older then my oldest brother. A few days later, I saw his bed empty and clean. So I asked the GI nearby where he was. He grimly said, “He died last night”. For a 12 year old, this made a lasting impression on me. I am now convinced what a powerful impression “Momma” makes on her child.
MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME
WHEN I WAS IN KNEE PANTS
MY MOMMA DONE TOLD ME SO
AH HUEY AH HUEY, AH CLICKITY-CLOCK
I’VE GOT THE BLUES IN THE NIGHT
posted by Antonio at 2:52 PM
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