John Philip Sousa unknowingly stole the song, it turns out, from Edmund L. Gruber.
My dad was with the US Army field artillery from 1943-1945, serving in France and Belgium, and trained at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. As a child I was fascinated by all things artillery and things that go "boom".
To this day I wake up singing this march to myself, silently in my head, as I make the morning coffee:
- For it's high high he,
- In the Field Artillery,
- Shout out your numbers loud and strong!