Today is the 232d Birthday of the United States Army

And to mark the occasion, Geneablogie has asked Jill Daniels, "England's No. 1 WWII/1940s Entertainer," to favor (or as she says, "favour") us with a celebratory reminiscence of a great Irving Berlin tune.

Draftees from New York City report to Camp Upton, Yaphank, Long Island in 1917.

Among the soldiers trained at Camp Upton was a Russian emigre born Israel Isidore Beilin.

He wrote the camp musical, called Yip, Yip, Yaphank, casting 350 of his fellow soldiers. One of the songs he wrote for the revue he decided not to use and it was not published for many years.
It was titled God Bless America. In 1943, the now-famous songwriter saw his Army camp revue
turned into a popular movie, taking its title from one of his Yaphank ditties, This is the Army.

Photo from the book Camp Upton, by Roger Batchelder (Small, Maynard & Co., Camp Upton, NY, 1918)

To book Jill Daniels, or just to hear more of her singing, see her website, jilldaniels.com