Here is something I ran across just a few minutes ago.
Thought it would be good for the rest of us to see it.
"ESSAYONS"Is a French word meaning-"Let Us Try"
It's History: THE ENGINEER BUTTON: The Corps of Engineers' oldest and most time honored insignia is the exclusive Essayons Button. It has not been changed in the basic design since the war of 1812. It is still the required button for the Army Engineers' uniform. Evidence which could establish the actual facts concerning the designing and adoption of the Essayons Button probably burned at West Point in 1838, when the building containing the library and earliest official Corps of Military Academy records caught fire. However, while early Army regulations mentioned the "button of Engineers... with only the device and motto heretofore established", apparently no authoritative detailed description of the button appeared until 1840. The Army prescribed new uniforms on February 18, 1840, in General Orders 7, AGO, which officially described the button as follows: An eagle holding in his beak a scroll with the word, 'Essayons,' a bastion with embrasures in the distance, surrounded by water, and rising sun; the figures to be of dead gold upon a bright field." In 1902, when the Army adopted "regulation" buttons, it allowed only the Corps of Engineers to retain its own distinctive Essayons Button in recognition of the distinguished traditions that it symbolized.Song:
THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BRANCH SONG:
"ESSAYONS" Essayons, sound out the battle cry Essayons, we'll win or we'll die Essayons, there's nothing we won't try.. We're the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.. Pin the castle on my collar I've done my training for the team. You can call me an engineer soldier, the warrior spirit has been my dream We are builders, we are fighters! We are destroyers just as well There've been doubters who met with the sappers..
We know our sappers will never fail OR
And then we blew them all straight to hell Our brothers fighting on the battlefield Look to us to point the way We get there first and then we take the risks To build the roads and the air strips And bridge the mighty river streams We don't care who gets the glory We're sure of one thing, this we know Somewhere out there an engineer soldier Designed the plan for the whole darn show Essayons whether in war or peace We will bear our red and our white Essayons we serve America And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.. Essayons!! Essayons!!
THE ENGINEERS HYMN
Men of honor, stop your dreaming, Can't you see their bayonets gleaming, See their warrior pennants streaming, To this battle field. Men of honor, stand ye steady, It can not be ever said ye, For this battle were not ready. Sappers will not yield. Hear the cannon pounding, pounding. From the hills resounding, sounding. Sound the horn, and forward toward, The mighty force surrounding. Men of honor, stand ye steady, Ye shall ever be at ready, To the frightful foe afore Ye. Sappers will not yield. Men of honor, start replying, On courage and strength relying, To the fray ahead be flying. Sappers will not yield. Men of honor, those before ye, Fought and died as Engineers for the Nation that we hold so dearly. Sappers will not yield. Hear the cannon pounding, pounding. From the hills resounding, sounding. Sound the horn, and forward toward, The mighty force surrounding. Men of honor, on to glory, This will ever be your story, Keep these stirring words before ye. Sappers will not yield.
A well earned SALUTE for all you guys
