"Blood on the Risers" is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

paratrooper song from World War II. It is associated with all current American airborne units, including the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

, the

173rd Airborne Brigade The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Eu ...

and 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division, and the 120th CTS (United States) as well as British airborne units. It is known as "Mancha Roja" (Spanish for "Red Stain") in airborne units from multiple Latin American countries. In Spain it is called "Sangre en las cuerdas" ("Blood upon the risers" in English). This song has been featured in the television miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', the television series '' Preacher'', and the video game '' Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30''. It was 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 a fatal training jump of a rookie paratrooper whose

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

fails to deploy, resulting in him falling to his death. Each verse describes the man’s death and the subsequent condition of his body in the aftermath. The song is a cautionary tale on the dangers of improper preparation of a parachute jump. The protagonist does everything right but forgets to hook up his

static line A static line is a fixed cord attached to a large, stable object. It is used to open parachutes automatically for paratroopers and novice parachutists. Design and use A static line is a cord attached at one end to the aircraft and at the oth ...

which would automatically deploy his main parachute. Upon discovering this error during the jump, he deploys his reserve chute in bad falling position with disastrous results. As the reserve chute is stored in a belly bag on the World War II-era rig, deploying it in a bad falling position could easily lead to an accident, not unlike the one described in the song. "Risers" are the four straps that connect the suspension lines of the parachute canopy to the parachute harness.

References

External links

Blood on the RisersMen of Easy Company's official lyrics
archived fro
the original
* {{authority control American military marches Songs about the military Songs of World War II 1943 songs