foolish pride
foolish pride when first we arrived t old bien hoa
there were no showers there;
 they said just go across the field, the yanks would gladly share we saw the men all showering, and every one was white;
 they seemed to quickly dress and go when negroes came in sight.
well this was quite disturbing;
 to us it didn't seem right;
 we'd show we weren't so prejudiced, we'd share with both black and white.
 we quickly stripped off all our clothes… then shyly turned our backs – when we saw the smallest 'thingo' there was 10 inches on the slack.
 we never, ever, crossed that field to the shower block again, but we realised it wasn't prejudice;
just the foolish pride of man.
this song was written by bill charlton, bravo coy, 1 bn, rar about their first days in bien hoa, vietnam, to operate as part of the us 173 rd abn bde,;
 I added the melody.
 the 173 rd was the only anzus treaty unit fielded;
 friendships formed back in may, 1965, still thrive.
 soldiers enjoy the chance, opportunity, to serve with soldiers from other countries;
 a new learning experience.
 rations are exchanged, stories of trials endured and shared;
 exchange of military folk lore and traditions, rituals.
 speech peculiarities, expressions are interchanged, just as terminology used within units has a genealogy;
 this can best be seen in the us army songs 'firefight' and 'the iron brigade',
both in this song collection.