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"'''Napalm Sticks to Kids'''" is  a call and response [[military cadence|running cadence]] once occasionally used in the U.S.military.<ref>The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving In Iraq. Helen Benedict, Beacon Press, p. 37</ref> The earliest recorded example is from 1972.  A third verse version is found in final draft the movie ''An Officer and a Gentleman'', but only two verses made it into the film. The line of "Dow Chemical don't give a shit" was changed to "chemical service don't...", most likely to avoid liability.

This ironic song was influenced by the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo taken in June 1972, showing Vietnamese children fleeing from a South Vietnamese Air Force napalm attack.

We shoot the sick, the young, the lame,<br/>
We do our best to maim,<br/>
Because the kills all count the same,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Chorus: Napalm sticks to kids,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Flying low across the trees,<br/>
Pilots doing what they please,<br/>
Dropping frags on refugees,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Goods in the open, making hay,<br/>
But I can hear the gunships say,<br/>
"There'll be no Chieu Hoi today,"<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

See those farmers over there,<br/>
Watch me get them with a pair,<br/>
Blood and guts just everywhere,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

I've only seen it happen twice,<br/>
But both times it was mighty nice,<br/>
Shooting peasants planting rice,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Napalm, son, is lots of fun,<br/>
Dropped in a bomb or shot from a gun,<br/>
It gets the gooks when on the run,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Drop some napalm on a farm,<br/>
It won't do them any harm,<br/>
Just burn off their legs and arms,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

CIA with guns for hire,<br/>
Montagnards around a fire,<br/>
Napalm makes the fire go higher,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

I've been told it's not so neat,<br/>
To catch gooks burning in the street,<br/>
But burning flesh, it smells to sweet,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Children sucking on a mother's tit,<br/>
Wounded gooks down in a pit,<br/>
Dow Chemical doesn't give a shit,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Bombadiers don't care a bit,<br/>
Just as long as the pieces fit,<br/>
When you stuff the bodies in a pit,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Eighteen kids in a No Fire Zone,<br/>
Rooks under arms and going home,<br/>
Last in line goes home alone,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Chuck in a sampan, sitting in the stern,<br/>
They don't think their boats will burn,<br/>
Those damn gooks will never learn,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Cobras flying in the sun,<br/>
Killing gooks is lots of fun,<br/>
Get one pregnant and it's two for one,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Shoot civilians where they sit,<br/>
Take some pictures as you split,<br/>
All your life you'll remember it,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

NVA are all hard core,<br/>
Flechettes never are a bore,<br/>
Throw those PSYOPS out the door,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>

Gather kids as you fly over town,<br/>
By throwing candy on the ground,<br/>
Then grease 'em when they gather 'round,<br/>
Napalm sticks to kids.<br/>


==Recorded versions==
* 1972.  ''[http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=3993 We Say No To Your War!]'' {{audio|napalm_sticks_to_kids__we_say_no_to_your_war.ogg|sample}} LP recorded by The Covered Wagon Musicians.  Sung by Sergeant John Boychuck with guitar.
* ''Gravedigger'' album by [[Janus (band)|Janus]]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abY29Q97-es&fmt=18 Scene] from ''An Officer and a Gentleman''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNAPALM.html Lyrics on Digital Tradition Page]
* Burke, Carol. 1989. "Marching to Vietnam," Journal of American Folklore 102(406): 424-441.

[[Category:Military cadence]]