Deck of Cards, a Soldier's song and Bible

The deck of cards.

A hub friend recently published a hub explaining the Christmas carol ‘the twelve days of Christmas.’ It reminded me of an old song about a young soldier who was arrested by his platoon sergeant for having a deck of cards on display in church.

There are many different versions of this song including versions by Tex Ritter, Hank Williams, Red Sovine and many others. It was a chart record in the UK in the early sixties, but I can't remember who recorded it. It is a moving tale and one that is a lesson for us all not to jump to conclusions too quickly in case we’ve jumped the wrong way.

The song begins with an explanation of the events; the war zone seems to change depending on which artiste is performing it, from Monte Casino in the Second World War to Saigon in the Vietnamese conflict. That is not as important as the message it has to offer.

He is marched before his commanding officer who like the sergeant takes a very dim view of the soldier showing the cards in church. They demand an explanation and warn of the dire consequences if the excuse is not a very good one.

So, the young soldier tells his story beginning with the fact that he has been out on patrol and had not a bible just a pack of cards for comfort.

He begins his explanation; sir when I look at the ace it reminds me that there is but one God, when I see the deuce it reminds that the bible is divided into two parts, when I see the three it reminds me of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Slowly he works through the entire deck and then to the facts about the pack itself, there are 365 spots, the number of days in a year, there are 52 cards the number of weeks in a year, there are four suits the number of weeks in a month, twelve picture cards the number of months in a year.

So you see sir my deck of cards has served me as a prayer book, a Bible, and an Almanac. The charge against the soldier was dismissed.