The youtube channel Megaprojects recently put up an excellent video on The Civilian Conservation Corps. I was prompted to get my song about the “CCC Boys” out there as well, and here’s the new link: https://youtu.be/qKXTuysUMfw
The lyrics are here:
“CCC Boys” (Song for the Civilian Conservation Corps)
by Jim Novak
The forests of the Garden were lumbered and left to burn,
Farmland and stream heading for trouble as the Century turned.
The market crashed in ’29, there was no work for many,
A dust cloud settling down on this once-proud Land of Plenty.
There were hobo boys in jungles, and teens out on the street,
Young men on the farm: even there they couldn’t make ends meet.
So when FDR was elected, right away he made a plan,
He said “Let’s put those boys to work, and let’s restore our Land.”
Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.
A quarter-million enrollees in just a few months’ time,
From ’33 to ’42, there were three million point five,
All in Roosevelt’s Tree Army, Soil Soldiers, CCC….
They restored the woods, restored their lives, that’s their history.
With axe and hoe and shovel, they leaned into their task;
Fire trails, riverbanks, campsites — all that they were asked;
California to Maine, Skyline Drive to Yellowstone,
They made 30 bucks a months, and all but 5 went home.
3 billion seedlings with mattock, axe, and maul,
Their message was “Think Ahead,” and what they did’ll outlive us all.
So, here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.
My Dad was a CCC Boy, as he so liked to be called,
Went from home near Pittsburgh to Virginia’s Front Roy-alle.
The he got a job in Detroit, then he served in World War Two,
Said, After being in the C’s, there was no work he could not do.
I met those CCC Boys at reunions at Higgins Lake,
They’ve slowed a step but still quick of mind, w/ a firm, firm hand to shake.
To a man they’ve got great stories, and it’s not just trees they grew:
They grew themselves –they want that choice for the next generation too.
Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Learning on the job, they leaned into their task;
They called it the College of Callouses — & did all they were asked;
California to Maine, Skyline Drive to Yellowstone,
They made 30 bucks a months, and all but 5 went home.
3 billion seedlings with mattock, axe, and maul,
Their message was “Think Ahead,” and what they did’ll outlive us all.
Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps
That’s my song for the CCC Boys, you can sing it in a national park,
Sing it in a state forest, on a morning hike or at dark,
Sing it once, in gratitude for the men of my father’s age,
And sing it twice for the youngsters, to be inspired by History’s page.
Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps