The end of the Civil War was near
When quite accidentally,
A hero who sneezed, abruptly seized
Retreat and reversed it to victory!
His Medal of Honor pleased and thrilled
His proud little family group;
While pinning it on, some blood was spilled
And so it was planned he'd command... F TROOP!
Where Indian fights are colorful sights
And nobody takes a lickin',
Where paleface and redskin
Both turn chicken!
When drilling and fighting get them down
They know their morale can droop,
As long as they all relax in town
Before they resume with a bang and a boom... F TROOP!
F Troop aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show switched to color for its second season.
F Troop was in Fort Courage, Kansas (a fictional United States Army outpost in the Old West) shortly after the American Civil War ended in 1865. The commanding officer(Ken Berry) was Captain Wilton Parmenter who descended from a long line of distinguished military officers. He was awarded the Medal of Honor after accidentally instigating the final charge at the Battle of Appomattox. Only a private, he was ordered to fetch his commanding officer's laundry. As he rode away, pollen in the air caused him to sneeze repeatedly. A group of Union soldiers mistook his sneeze for an order to charge, turning the tide of the battle. His superiors, wishing to reward his action, promoted him to captain and—in view of his ineptitude—gave him command of remote Fort Courage, a dumping ground for the army's least useful soldiers and misfits. Of the three commanding officers at Fort Courage before Captain Parmenter, two of them deserted and one suffered a nervous breakdown. He was also awarded the Purple Heart after he was accidentally pricked in the chest by his commanding officer while receiving the Medal of Honor - "the only soldier in history to get a medal for getting a medal."
Forrest Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) stood 6'4"l and weighed 200 pounds began his performing career at age 14 at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, pushing the big wicker tourist chairs by day and singing "Throw Money" at night. Lying about his age, Tucker then joined the United States Army cavalry. He was stationed at Fort Myer in Virginia, but was discharged when his age became known. He returned to stage work and then moved into films and finally to TV
Larry Storch attended the same school in New York as Don Adams, the two remained his lifelong friend. Storch served in the U.S. Navy during World War II on the submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19), along with future actor Tony Curtis. A voice
Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry (born November 3, 1933) was a dancer and singer before TV. His army sergeant was Leonard Nimoy, who urged him to return to California after the war for television auditions
Melody Patterson (born April 16, 1949 in Inglewood, California) was 16 years old when she debuted on the show. She was married to James MacArthur ("Danno" of Hawaii Five-O.)
"Chief Wild Eagle", chief of the Hekawi tribe, Frank Dekova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an Italian-American character who was born in New York City and taught school (primarily languages) before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He made his Broadway debut in Detective Story, and was discovered by director Elia Kazan.
William "Bill" B. Lava the shows musical composer also sang the theme to the western series Cheyenne.